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http://www.archive.org/details/desireeatonOOeatoiala 


Desire 

New  and  Enlarged  Edition 

BY 

Charlotte  Eaton 


AUTHOR  OF 
"A  LAST  MEMORY  OF   ROBERT  LOUIS   STEVENSON" 


Amor  Fincit 


NEW  YORK 

DUFFIELD    &   COMPANY 

1918 


H^ 


Copyright,  1904,  by 
G.  W.  DILLINGHAM  COMPANY 

Copyright,  1918,  by 

DUFPIELD  &  COMPANY 

All  rights  reserved 


Contents 


PAGE 

The  Real  Lover     ...  5 

Love   Transcendent     .    .  7 

My  Inspiration  ....  8 

An  Explanation      ...  9 

Love's  Trilogy     ....  11 

Love's  Prophecy     ...  13 

The  Jewel 15 

Song  of  Psappha  ...  16 

Attraction        18 

Meditation — The  Mirror  .  19 

Meditation— The  Bath    .  21 

Love's  Enchantment    .    .  23 

Charmides        24 

Adulation         25 

Love's  Magic      ....  26 

Perfect  Love      ....  27 

TA^   Perfect  Peace    .    .  28 

The    Wish       29 

Charmides       30 

Song  of  the  Body  ...  31 

Song  of  the  Spirit  ...  33 

Aspasia's  Dream     ...  35 

Reconciliation      ....  36 

Deidre 37 

Song  of  Affinity     ...  38 

Ecstacy        42 

Song  of  Gratitude  ...  44 


PAGE 

Your  Worth 46 

A   Toast 47 

The  Echoing  Song     .    .  48 

The  Soul's  Reunion  .    .  49 

The  Ashes  of  Rhodope  .  50 

Love's  Weapon  ....  51 

The  Transformation  .    .  52 

The  Voluptuary  ....  53 

To  a  Prostitute  ....  55 

The   Athlete 56 

Night-on-the-Waters  .    .  58 

A  Realization      ....  60 

The   Wooing       ....  61 

Love's  Rapture    ....  62 

Love  That  Is  Exhaustless  67 

The  Kiss 68 

Love's  Tutelage      ...  69 

A  Prayer 70 

Advice  to  a  Maiden  .    .  71 

True  Love's  Ambition  .    .  72 

My  Love's  Picture  ...  73 

Rapture       74 

The  Fulness  of  Love  .    .  75 

Memories        77 

A  Sigh 78 

The  Charmed  Voice  .    .  79 

Reflection 80 


2135289 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Unspotted  from  the  World  81 
The  Banner  of  Love  .  .  82 
Song — Separation    ...     83 

Affinity        87 

Love's  Assurance  ...  88 
The  Soul  Invincible  .  .  89 
Winged  Thoughts  ...  90 
Love's  Harvest  ....  91 
To  My  Own  Soul  ...    92 

Telepathy         93 

Love — Not  a  Chimera  .    .    94 

Immortality 95 

Love's  Interchange  .  .  96 
A  Scene  Revisited  ...    97 

In  the  Fog 99 

Phantasma 101 

Unrest 103 

Longing 104 

Psappha's  Jewel  Song  .  105 
Psappha's  Dying  Song    .  107 

An  Inquiry 109 

The  Heart's  Questions  .  110 
Heart  Sickness  ....  Ill 
Love's  Anticipation  .    .    ,  112 

Forsaken 113 

The  Blind  Peddler  .  .  .115 
The  Love-Letter ....  117 

The  Retort 118 

Futurition 120 

Meditation       122 

Heart  Hunger  ....  124 
Self-Conquered       .    .    .  125 

Questions 126 

The  Book  of  Rumi  .    .    .127 


PAGE 

The  Flower  of  Silence  .  128 

Vespers       129 

The  Return 131 

Absence       133 

Despondency 134 

Song — Separation  .  .  .135 
The  Heart  Triumphal .  .  136 
Renunciation       ....  137 

Song        138 

Beings 139 

Earth-Children    ....  141 

A  Question 142 

The  Soul's  Answer  .    .    .143 

Desertion 144 

Inspiration       145 

Song        146 

Onward 147 

On  a  Line  by  Robert  Louis 

Stevenson 148 

From  the  Past  ....  150 
The  Neglected  Lover  .  .  151 
The  Separation  ....  152 
The  Fulfilment    .    .    .    .153 

Repudiation 154 

A   Need 156 

Song — Weariness    .    .    .  157 

Despair       158 

The  Inner  Life  ....  159 
Compensations  ....  160 
Introspection       ....  161 

A    Cry 162 

Complaint  and  Answer    .  163 

Heart-break 164 

Tranquillity 166 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Silence    .......  167 

Lament  of  a  Modern  Sara  168 
Love's  Masquerade  .    .    .  170 

Meditation       171 

Repletion 173 

Recognition 174 

A  Visitation 175 

Strength  in  a  Name  .    .  177 
Love's  Supremacy  .    .    .  178 

Joy 179 

Wounded 180 


PAGE 

Dissolution 182 

Life  and  Death  .  .  .  .183 
Noon-day  and  Night  .  .  184 
To  a  Disembodied  Soul  .  185 
Self-Reliance       ....  187 

A  Cry 189 

Reverie 191 

A   Privilege 194 

The  Heart's  Epithalamium  196 
Song  of  Solitude  .    .    .197 


Desire 


THE  REAL  LOVER 

Such  fancies  as  spring  from  a  look,  a  chance  meet- 
ing, or  a  conversation  snatched  in  a  crowd. 

That  often  masquerade  in  love's  name,  wearing  love's 
honors 

(While  each  in  reality  remains  ignorant  of  the  true 
nature  of  the  other). 

Contain  no  more  of  love  in  the  eyes  of  the  real  lover. 

Than  mere  compliment  can  be  said  to  contain  sin- 
cerity. 

Because  love,  as  it  is  understood  by  the  real  lover. 

Is  born  of  the  knowledge  of  the  character  and  the 
appreciation  of  the  highest  qualities  of  the 
loved  one; 

For  as  no  plant  springs  suddenly  into  existence, 

5 


6  THE  SEAL  LOVER 

But  must  first  germinate  in  the  soil,  putting  forth 
its  tender  foliage  before  it  can  blossom; 

So  is  the  love  in  the  heart  of  the  real  lover  a  product 
of  time,  like  the  flower. 

And  this  love,  once  conceived,  endures  through  sepa- 
ration, 

And  is  often  tested  by  tears  and  long  anguish  of 
waiting. 


LOVE  TRANSCENDENT 

Happiness — that  word  conveys  no  idea  of  the  joy 
that  each  senses  in  the  presence  of  the  other, 

It  is  more — it  is  the  fulfilment  of  that  which  God  saw 
when  He  created  man  and  woman. 

A  power  that  is  as  strong  as  the  law  of  gravitation 
or  of  separation, 

As  resistless  as  the  coming  in  of  the  tide. 

As  necessary  as  the  turning  of  the  earth  upon  its 
axis, — ' 

It  is  the  perfection  of  that  harmony  in  which  is  en- 
folded all  the  harmonies  of  the  life  of  the 
Universe, 

That  law  of  love — that  is  its  own  explanation,  and 
that  rules  all  infinity. 

Before  which  every  human  substitute  has  no  weight 
or  reality. 

7 


MY  INSPIRATION  \ 

r 
i 

You  are  the  breath  I  take. 
The  thoughts  that  fill  me, 

The  joy  that  sustains  me —  ' 

The  hope  that  makes  strong  my  hand  in  the  hour  of 

trouble ;  i 

You  are  the  lantern  guiding  me, 
The  compass  controlling  me. 
The  endeavor  that  quickens  the  heart  that  radiates  | 

its  vitality  through  me. 
You  are  the  vision  that  appraises  me  of  the  beauty 

of  the  things  of  the  earth. 
And  the  voice  that  interprets  their  purport,  J 

And  being  baptized  of  the  spirit —  ] 

You  are  the  aspiration  within  me,  for  the  limitless 
life  of  the  spirit. 

8  i 


AN  EXPLANATION 

Something  special  and  precious, 

Like  a  separate  radiance  permeating  the  hours  of 

the  day; 
Something  personal,  indivisible,  yet  in  reality  acting 

upon  all. 
Something  that  gives  zest  to  the  common  acts  of  life, 

making  them  easier  and  lighter, 
That  removes  all  fear  from  the  heart,  making  the 

mere  act  of  being  a  delight. 
Something  that  imparts  a  tone  to  the  voice  that 

makes  others  listen  more  attentively, 
And  an  expression  to  the  eyes  that  holds  their  eyes 

captive,  bright  with  an  asking  look. 
Something  that  arrests  the  dream  of  the  sceptic 

even  at  the  height  of  his  illusion. 
And  before  which  the  gold  of  Plutus  becomes  less 

essential  in  his  eyes,  less  satisfying, 
9 


10  AN  EXPLANATION 

Something  invincible,  impregnable,  alluring,  fasci- 
nating, 

Supreme  in  itself,  ready  to  stand  against  anything, 

Something  calm,  with  the  elemental  calm,  and  strong 
with  the  elemental  strength. 

This  is  what  love  is — oh  Bilito. 


LOVE'S  TRILOGY 

I  LOVE  you  with  the  love  of  the  body ; 
For  dear  to  me  above  all  else  is  your  physical  being, 
The  look  in  the  calm  eyes  that  transports  me  with 

gladness, 
And  the  smile  on  the  warm  lips  that  reveales  the  kind- 
ness of  the  heart. 

I  love  you  with  the  love  of  the  intellect ; 
For  as  the  waters  of  a  running  brook  become  lucid  to 

the  sunbeam, 
So  are  your  brooding  thoughts  as  crystal  to  my 

seeing, 
And  as  dew  upon  the  parched  face  of  the  prairies. 
So  in  you  do  I  find  rest  and  sweet  renewal. 

11 


12  love's  trilogy 

I  love  you  with  the  love  of  the  spirit ; 
That  hints  of  the  joy  of  the  earth-Hfe,  making  it 

perfect  and  satisfying, 
And  being  aware  of  love's  purport,  explains  the  long 

vista  of  eternity — making  that  also  perfect 

and  satisfying. 


LOVE'S  PROPHECY 

By  so  many  subtle  ways  shall  I  hold  myself  in  your 

remembrance, 
That  unconsciously  the  essence  of  my  thoughts  shall 

penetrate  to  your  heart, 
And    entering,    shall    be    projected    like    the    blood 

through  every  fibre, 
So  that,  as  easily  as  you  breathe,  you  will  come  to 

love  me. 
And  from  far  away  you  will  seek  me. 
And  you  will  kneel  before  me,  resting  your  head  upon 

my  knees,  as  of  old,  yet  differently. 
And  your  voice  will  be  gentle,  your  touch  tender,  and 

your  eyes  watchful  for  my  well-being. 
And  again  our  lips  will  meet  in  a  long  kiss,  but  that, 

too,  will  be  different; 
13 


14  loye's  peophecy 

And  not  until  that  day  is  life  in  its  fulness  possible  to 

either. 
For  only  after  separation,  through  infinite  faith  and 

endurance. 
Can  the  human  heart  enter  into  the  knowledge  of  its 

birthright  of  earthly  joy. 


THE  JEWEL 

Kiss  my  hand  again  with  rapture,  Charmldes, 

Holding  my  fingers  close  to  your  warm  lips,  breathing 
sweetly  upon  them; 

For  in  this,  more  than  in  precious  gifts,  do  I  feel  the 
love  of  your  strong  heart  for  me. 

And  know  myself  to  be  happier  than  they  who,  lack- 
ing such  homage, 

Have  worn  upon  their  fingers  the  large  white  gem 
of  the  Orient. 

15 


SONG  OF  PSAPPHA 

I  LOVE  you  passionately! 

I  love  you  as  I  love  the  sun  overhead, 

The  earth  underfoot, 

The  flowers  that  spring  out  of  the  earth, 

The  fresh  breezes  of  the  sea, 

The  morning  star,  gold-fluctuating  Venus, 

Or  calm  white  steadfast  Jupiter. 

I  love  you  passionately! 

The  brawny  beautiful  arms  made  for  enfolding, 
The  eyes   brown   and  limpid,  brimming  over  witH 
sweetness. 

It  is  necessary  to  me  that  your  heart  beats, 
And  that  you  inhale  with  conscious  pleasure  the  soft 
spring  air, 

18 


SONG  OF  PSAPPHA  17 

That  you  love  light,  color,  action,  and  are  aml)itious, 
That  you  love  the  beauty  of  the  human  face  and 

form. 
And  portray  them  both  with  mastery; 
That  you  grasp  that  which  is  not  graspable  by  all. 
And  know  that  which  is  not  knowable  to  all; 
That  you  have  eyes — for  a  purpose, 
A  heart — for  a  purpose, 
And  an  inquisitive  soul — for  a  purpose. 


ATTRACTION 

When  you  caressed  me,  I  felt  the  leaning  of  the 

heart  in  the  touches, 
And  when  you  held  me  to  you,  my  heart  went  out 

to  you  and  enwrapt  you. 
And  when  you  kissed  me,  there  thrilled  through  me 

that  joy  that  is  wordless  like  the  singing 

of  the  spirit. 

18 


MEDITATION— THE  MIRROR 

Sometimes  catthing  a  glimpse  of  myself  nude,  in  the 

mirror, 
I  am  arrested,  struck  by  the  line  of  the  shoulders, 

neck  or  bosom — 
And   I   gaze   intently,   becoming   absorbed,   lost   in 

visions  of  the  Figurines  of  Tanagra, 
And  I  dream  of  the  days  of  Psappha  and  her  com- 
rade, Bilitis, 
And  the  later  days  of  Aspasia,  loved  of  Pericles, 

honored  of  Phidias ; 
Virile  days  when  physical  defect  was  held  an  offense 

equal  almost  to  crime; 
And  I  remember  also  the  aerial  altitudes  of  the  figures 

in  the  frescoes  of  Pompeii, 
19 


20  MEDITATION — THE  MIRROR 

And  I  realize  more  fully  that  no  man  of  unchaste 
thought  of  the  human  form  could  have  so  de- 
lightfully portrayed  it — 

And  I  adjust  the  mirror  to  reflect  my  body  as  I 
assume  poses  like  those  of  the  crouching 
Venuses  of  Naples, 

Exclaiming  to  myself  and  admiring,  forgetful  that  it 
is  my  own  image  that  is  before  me, 

For  the  strong  impersonal  emotion  of  the  artist  is 
upon  me — and  I  am  happy. 


MEDITATION— THE  BATH 

Without  aid  of  soaps,  or  sweet-smelling  lotion, 
Each  day  do  I  bathe  in  the  clear  Croton  water, 
Remaining  submerged  for  long,  that  my  body  may 

absorb  its  invigorating  properties. 
Stretched  at  ease — singing  to  myself — or  exercising 

for  mere  delight  in  untrammelled  action ; 
After  which  I  walk,  breathing  deeply  the  fresh  air, 

caring  not  whither  I  go. 
Or  sit  meditating,  the  sunshine  playing  upon  my 

loosened  hair ; 
And  thus  do  I  pass  my  time,  careless  of  those  intel- 
lectual pursuits  that  once  engrossed  me. 
For  although  he  whom  my  soul  loves  is  an  adept  in 

many  arts, 
Understanding  well  the  euphonistic  tongues  of  the 

Orient — 

21 


22  MEDITATION — THE  BATH 

And  fain  would  I  converse  comprehensively  with  him 

on  these  subjects, 
Yet  well  do  I  know  that  neither  skill,  acquirement, 

nor  any  native  excellence, 
Can  prevail  over  the  heart  of  man  like  the  possession 

of  physical  beauty. 


LOVE'S  ENCHANTMENT 

I  wiLii  kiss  you  into  forgetfulness  of  the  love  of  the 
past,  and  all  that  pertains  to  it, 

So  that  your  heart  will  bound  only  to  the  joys  of  the 
hour,  and  the  thought  of  the  days  to  come. 

I  will  kiss  you  till  the  promise  on  the  lips  of  all  others, 

however  abundant. 
Will  be  as  substantial  as  the  thistledown  that  falls 

upon  the  running  stream. 

And  I  will  commune  with  you  so  subtly  that,  at  last 
knowing  me  as  your  counterpart, 

Your  spirit  will  clothe  me  in  its  native  beauty  as  my 
lips  cover  you  with  fervent  kisses. 
S8 


CHARMIDES 

Turn  your  sweet  eyes  to  me  again,  Charmides, 
That  I  may  see  the  keen  delight  within  them, 
That  satisfies  the  craving  of  my  heart — 
That  so  dispels  my  loneliness  of  spirit. 

Speak  tenderly  to  me  again,  Charmides, 
That  I  may  drink  the  words  like  limpid  waters, 
And  thrill  to  their  intent  as  old  as  song — 
And  glow  with  the  response  as  old  as  fable. 

Hold  me  against  your  heart  again,  Charmides, 
Close,  close,  beyond  all  protest  or  resistance, 
'Till  spent  with  joy  I  sink  away  in  sleep, — 
Your  lips  still  breathing  warm  upon  my  bosom. 

Si 


ADULATION 

Every  attribute  in  you  is  delightful  to  me, 

When  you  stand  or  sit  before  me,  it  is  a  compliment, 

and  every  word  and  act  of  service,  glorious ; 
Yet  though  my  thoughts  caress  you,  and  every  fibre 

in  me  throbs  to  feel  your  kisses. 
Still  must  I  feign  indifference  and  seem  reluctant; 
For,  she  who  loves  must  needs  be  wise. 
Nor  spoil  by  eagerness  man's  joy  in  wooing. 

25 


LOVE'S  MAGIC 

I  WILL  redeem  you  from  the  slough  of  MortaHty  that 

enslaves  you, 
Whispering  of  hope  that  lies  beyond  its  portals. 

I  will  reclaim  you  from  the  chill  of  the  kiss  of  the 

loveless, 
I  will  wrap  you  in  tenderness — with  joy  I  will  exalt 

you. 

And  I  will  impart  to  you  the  clue  that  unkeys  the 

wells  of  knowledge. 
And  together  we  will  drink  their  sweets  that  are  ex- 

haustless. 

26 


PERFECT  LOVE 

One  memory,  like  a  fragrance  about  me — your  love, 
One  beauty,  like  an  ornament  upon  me — your  love, 
One  strength,  like  a  greatness  within  me — ^your  love. 

One  belief — born  of  these  three: 

That  love  is  imperative  in  the  life  of  this  earth, 

A  necessary  part  of  its  usefulness,  and  not  an  illusion. 

One  aim,  to  make  so  perfect  love's  responses 
That  the  meeting  of  our  lips  will  be  the  brimming  of 
life's  fulness. 

27 


THE  PERFECT  PEACE 

As  a  sea-gull,  after  long  flight,  rests  upon  the  face 

of  the  moving  waters, 
So,  after  doubt,  is  my  heart  resting  in  the  joy  of 

the  knowledge  of  your  love. 

And  as  Jupiter  shines  in  a  sky  too  luminous  to  re- 
veal his  myriad  attendants ; 

So  the  memory  of  you  is  as  a  pearl  in  the  silence  of 
my  soul,  serene  and  uncompanioned. 
28 


THE  WISH 

I  WILL  ask  no  more  in  the  life  of  this  earth, 

Than  to  behold  the  sweet  eyes  of  him  whom  my  soul 

loves — 
Neither  will  I  strive  after  any  secret  desire, 
The  warm  breath  on  his  lips  will  suffice  me, 
For  words  are  as  vain  as  the  dust-wreaths  of  the 

desert. 
And  desires  are  as  phantoms  that  lead  to  despair  and 

emptiness. 

39 


CHARMIDES 

Fold  your  arms  around  me  and  draw  me  to  you, 

Charmides! 
As  in  days  past,  against  your  heart,  securely, 
Till  the  memory  of  the  tragedy  of  the  years  has 

become  obliterated. 
And  the  fear  of  the  realm  of  indifference  that  engulfs 

me. 

Fold  your  arms  around  me  and  draw  me  to  you, 

Charmides ! 
And  let  your  lips  pass  with  rapture  over  my  face,  and 

downward  to  my  bosom. 
That  I  may  realize  the  passion  of  love  in  your  heart, 

and  its  culmination. 
30 


SONG  OF  THE  BODY— MEDITATION 

How  wonderful  are  you,  oh  my  body ; 

As  a  temple  well  builded  and  garnished  are  you,  oh 

my  body. 
Reclining  in  a  dim  light  I  saw  your  emanations  and 

they  were  lustrous. 
Surrounding  me  as  an  aura  of  light  that  was  liquid. 
And  I  rejoiced  in  you  exceedingly,  oh  my  body,  a 

strong  exaltation  possessing  me. 
For  the  miracle  of  the  life  in  you  and  about  you  was 

upon  me,  and  I  communed  with  you,  saying, 
Oh  words,  that  go  out  of  the  mouth  creating  a  sep- 
arate kingdom  for  the  spirit ; 
Oh  thoughts,  floating  silently  about  you,  attracting 

those  responses  that  are  of  the  affinity, 
Oh  feet,  impatient  and  wary,  eager  in  the  pursuit  of 

the  things  that  are  material,  ever  hastening, 
31 


32  SONG  OF  THE  BODY — ^MEDITATION 

Oh  hands,  companions  in  labor,  what  from  the 
thoughts  and  the  words,  from  the  comings 
and  the  goings,  are  you  preparing  for  me, 
and  for  those  whom  I  love  both  in  the  seen 
and  in  the  unseen? 

But  now  I  am  satisfied,  I  will  doubt  no  more,  nor 
question,  but  pass  onward  marvelling,  and 
meditating. 

For  nothing  is  stranger  than  you,  in  your  activity, 
oh  my  body. 

And  nothing  is  more  mysterious  than  you,  in  your 
aura,  oh  my  body. 

And  nothing  is  more  wonderful  than  you,  in  your 
aspirations,  oh  my  spirit. 


SONG  OF  THE  SPIRIT— MEDITATION 

I  WILL  make  merry  in  the  possession  of  my  body, 
joying  in  its  comeliness, 

On  draughts  of  fresh  air  I  will  fatten,  in  the  clear 
waters  of  the  stream  I  will  intoxicate  my- 
self, 

I  will  delight  in  the  things  that  are  of  the  body,  the 
kisses  from  the  lips  of  my  lover,  the  leve-em- 
brace  as  pure  and  as  essential, 

Refreshing  as  sea-mists  to  the  temples,  delicious  as 
sunshine  upon  the  cheeks, 

I  will  sing  praises  for  the  soul  that  is  in  the  body, 
that  it  is  susceptible  of  change,  capable  of 
growth,  leaning  after  righteousness, 

I  will  seek  the  humility  that  is  born  of  the  pursuit  of 
wisdom,  and  the  glory  that  comes  of  the  ful- 
ness of  man's  patience, 
33 


34  SONG  OF  THE  SPIRIT — MEDITATION 

I  will  absorb  the  laws  that  are  eternal  and  edifying, 
till  all  discord  and  negation  fall  away  from 
me,  defeated, 

I  will  live  freely  in  the  faith  that  is  boundless,  await- 
ing the  baptism  that  is  the  strength  of  the  be- 
lieving, 

I  will  make  merry  in  the  possession  of  my  body,  joy- 
ing in  its  comeliness,  ^ 

On  draughts  of  fresh  air  I  will  fatten,  in  the  clear 
waters  of  the  stream  I  will  intoxicate  myself — 

For  the  joys  of  the  life  of  the  body  are  as  the  door- 
ways to  the  joys  of  the  life  of  the  spirit, 

In  their  perfection  is  evolved  the  birth  of  the  spirit, 
and  the  knowledge  of  the  beauty  of  God's 
handiwork. 


ASPASIA'S  DREAM 

With  rhythmic  steps  to  the  sound  of  music  I  ap- 
proach the  foot-lights  and  look  out  upon  a 
sea  of  eager  faces. 

And  I  note  the  effect  the  illusion  of  beauty  produces, 
the  low  murmur  of  applause,  the  subdued 
breathings  of  swift  surprise, 

And  I  feel  the  force  of  the  sense-thought  that  ani- 
mates them,  and  I  thrill  in  every  fibre  in  re- 
sponse to  it; 

Yet  remembering  you,  my  beloved,  I  send  a  prayer 
inward  to  my  own  heart,  speaking  silently, 
saying. 

Oh  soul,  if  first  you  are  unable  to  charm  by  the  joy 
of  the  great  love  that  rules  you. 

Then  this  homage  that  is  rendered  to  the  outward, 
is  nothing. 

For  the  form  of  clay  that  captivates  the  eye  only  is, 
of  itself,  a  shadow. 
35 


RECONCILIATION 

I  KISSED  him  on  the  lips  long  and  tenderly. 
He — ^because  of  old  hurts — protesting  somewhat, 
I,  my  hand  firmly  upon  his  neclc,  insisting. 
Joyful  at  the  renaissance  of  love  surging  within  him. 

3« 


DEIDRE 

I  SAW  in  a  dream  Deldre,  the  king's  daughter,  stand- 
ing at  the  edge  of  the  enchanted  forest ; 

And  upon  her  shoulder  was  perched  the  young  god 
Eros,  his  invisible  wings  enfolding  her,  whis- 
pering of  Nathos, 

And  while  she  cast  wistful  looks  backward,  remem- 
bering the  past,  she  yet  listened  consentingly 
to  his  beseechments — 

And  I  saw  expressed  in  her  attitude  the  desire  that 
is  the  dream  of  every  maiden,  the  longing  for 
the  nuptial,  and  the  far-away  lure  that  is 
Mother-hood. 

And  she  was  beautiful  as  she  stood  thus,  uncon- 
sciously typifying  the  three  ruling  passions 
of  the  heart. 

37 


SONG  OF  AFFINITY 


Oh  my  beloved ! 
You  are  as  comforting  to  my  vision 

As  a  wheat-field  undulating  to  a  soft  breeze, 
And  gaily  decked  with  scarlet  poppies, — 

The  modesty  and  perfume  of  the  wild  Chieranthus 
is  in  your  voice. 

And  the  rich  velvet  of  its  petals  is  in  your  eyes. 


n 


Oh  my  beloved! 
To-day  when  we  met  by  accident 

on  the  crowded  thoroughfare, 
My  spirits  went  bounding  upward  like  a  rocket, 
Whose  many-colored  sparks  breaking  forth  at  the 
last, 

88 


SONG  OF  AFFINITY  39 

Were  like  the  laughter  of  my  soul 
In  the  satisfaction  of  beholding  you. 

ni 

As  the  red  Nymphia  of  Egypt  droops,  laclclng  water. 
So  was  I  perishing  from  need  of  you. 


IV 


For  you  contain  all  that  is  necessary  to  my  well- 
being 
In  thoughts,  tastes,  pursuits,  antipathies. 

Complementing  and  completing  my  own  disposition, 
Charming  and  satisfying  me  with  youth,  strength, 
Symmetry  of  body,  simplicity  of  manner, 
and  captivating  courtesy. 
And  all  those  subtler  qualities 

That  make  for  an  ideal  manhood. 


Oh  my  beloved ! 
Not  only  do  you  appeal  to  the  eyes  and  to  the  senses. 
But  also  do  you  delight  apd  fee^  the  cravings  of 
th^  soul 


40  SONG  OF  AFFINITY 

By  the  searching  after  a  higher  understanding 

Of  beauty  in  its  various  phases. 
And  the  attitude  you  assume  toward  life, 

Absorbing  only  that  which  is  perfect  and  spiritual. 
Separating  the  superfluous  from  that  which  is  alone 
helpful  and  abiding. 


VI 


OK  my  beloved! 
Do  you  not  feel  that  in  me 

Which  responds  to  you  at  every  point 
Quiescent, — it  may  be, — 

But  only  waiting  to  be  called  into  existence, 
Not  love  physical, — the  attraction  of  the  sexes, 

(Though  that  were  not  altogether  wanting) 
But  that  sweet  unity  of  spirit 

Without  which  life  contains  no  real  gladness. 
An  equal  and  free  companionship, 

Giving  all,  accepting  all,  having  no  fear, 
Coming  into  knowledge,  wisdom,   appreciation  to- 
gether. 

Being  all  things  one  to  the  other, 
Differing,  but  ever  merging. 


SONG  OF  AFFINITY  41 

vn 

Oh  my  beloved! 
Like    the    wind    rippling    untrammelled    over    the 
wheat-field, 
So  would  I  caress  you. 
As  the  poppy  glorifies  the  uniformity  of  its  gold, 

So  would  I  rejoice  your  heart, 
As  abundant  water  is  to  the  red  Nymphia, 
,  So  would  my  love  for  you  strengthen  and  refresh 
you. 


ECSTACY 

Oh,  these  ecstacies  tliat  come  upon  me. 

These  delights  of  the  spirit ! 
After  communing  with  strong  inspirational  beings 
A  long  time,  in  silence  I  sit,  the  hours  drifting  onward 

unheeded, 
Enjoying  the  laughter  within  me. 
Surging  through  me  like  music. 
The  past  stretching  outward,  a  mirage,  whose  secret 

is  mastered, 
No  pang  of  regret  for  its  failures,  its  throes  or 

impellings. 
These  too,  but  a  part  of  the  laughter  refining  the 

senses. 
These  but  the  tests  and  the  plumbings  to  temper,  not 

conquer. 

48 


ECSTACY 


43 


I  look  on  the  populous  city,  its  surging  endeavor 
Where  souls  are  submerged  in  the  ceaseless  uproar  of 

its  traffic, 
The  shriek  of  the  derrick,  the  sound  of  the  rivet,  the 

tumult, 
And  all  its  activities  hint  at,  of  temporal  power. 
Each  striving  beneath  some  illusion  of  personal 

profit. 
And  I  wonder  what  these  things  avail,  if  the  heart 

lack  its  gladness. 
If  holding  all  riches  man  fails  of  the  joy  of  the 

spirit? 


SONG  OF  GRATITUDE 

I  THANK  God,  rejoicing  in  my  heart! 

That  I,  who  spend  my  days  among  the  brambled 
byways  of  the  world, 

Should  have  come  upon  you,  who  are  of  the  first  mag- 
nitude among  human  stars; 

And  for  those  calamities  that  caused  my  feet  to  turn 
into  the  obscure  byways 

Wherein,  by  solitude  and  chastisement,  I  was  made 
ready  to  receive  you, 

I  thank  God,  rejoicing  in  my  heart, 

And  for  that  in  me,  whatever  it  be,  that  attracted 
you  to  me. 

And  caused  your  eyes  to  rest  upon  me  with  love  in 
them, 

I  thank  God,  rejoicing  in  my  heart; 

And  for  every  tender  thought  that  included  me, 

44 


SONG  OF  GRATITUDE  45 

Holding  me  within  the  sweetness  of  its  radius, 

I  thank  God,  rejoicing  in  my  heart. 

For  the  inspiration  of  the  knowledge  of  your  exist- 
ence, 

And  the  power  to  comprehend  the  quality  that  com- 
poses you, 

Is  a  proof  of  His  loving  kindness. 

And  every  moment  spent  in  your  presence. 

And  every  thought  of  you  that  lingers  in  my  memory 
after  your  departure, 

Is  an  imperishable  jewel  dropped  from  His  fingers. 


yOUR  WORTH 

YouK  words  are  as  a  gateway  of  new  life  to  my  body, 
Discovering  vast  store-houses  of  earth's  inexhaustible 

treasure ; 
And  your  eyes  are  as  the  heavens  that  enfold  and* 

sustain  me, 
For  in  their  radiance  my  spirit  floats  and  is  satisfied 

— forgetting  all  self-hood. 


A  TOAST 

YouE  lips — that  for  me  contain  all  the  sweetness  of 

the  world ! 
Your  eyes — that  hold  within  them  all  the  light  of  the 

world ! 
And  the  love  of  your  heart — that  is  my  refuge  against 

all  the  storms  of  the  world. 
47 


THE  ECHOING  SONG 

As  the  Bobolink  sings  out  of  the  fulness  of  his  heart 
Joyously,  for  the  mere  delight  of  singing,  unmindful 

of  answer  or  of  praise. 
So  will  I  sing  to  you,  out  of  the  fulness  of  my  love. 
Even  though  your  jewel  heart  persuades  itself  that 

it  is  indifferent  to  me; 
But  others,  far  away  in  this  land,  and  in  distant 

lands. 
Will  acknowledge  in  my  words  the  sweetness  and  the 

endurance  of  love. 
And  they  will  be  more  valiant,  more  verile  because 

of  my  love  for  you. 
Girding  their  lips  with  my  eloquence  in  their  wooing. 
So  will  my  singing  contain  more  than  the  joy  of  the 

song. 
For  it  will  run  like  a  golden  thread  through  time 

(after  I  have  ceased  singing) 
Touching  into  melody  the  lives  of  many  who  will 

bless  me. 

4$ 


THE  SOUL'S  REUNION 

What  delight,  after  the  long  separation. 
The  meeting  of  our  eyes,  the  tones  of  your  voice,  and 
the  caress  in  the  warm  touches ! 

What  joy,  after  the  long  emptiness. 
The  cup  brimming  over,  each  drop  like  a  pearl,  fresh 
from  deep  sea  recesses! 

What  calm,  after  the  long  unrest. 

The   renewal   of  life,   the  repletion,   the   continual 


oneness ! 


49 


THE  ASHES  OF  RHODOPE 

As  Rhodope  cast  herself  into  a  tomb  of  ashes, 
So  that  no  man  might  look  upon  her  rose-sweet  face 

in  the  decline  of  its  beauty. 
So  would  I  destroy  these,  my  songs,  that  are  as  the 

flower  of  me,  at  your  command — oh  Bilito! 
And  bereft,  take  up  the  inarticulate  life  assigned  me. 
With  its  consuming  silence,  as  bitter  as  the  ashes  of 

Rhodope — oh  Bilito! 
As  bitter  as  the  ashes  of  Rhodope — oh  Bilito! 

60 


LOVE'S  WEAPON 

As  Penthesilea  lay  wounded  by  the  spear  of  Achilles, 
For  her  audacious  pride  in  matching  her  strength 

against  his. 
And  only  then,  in  her  weakness,  did  he  look  upon  her 

with  longing — 
So,  despite  my  vaunted  strength  was  I  vanquished. 
But  it  was  not  with  spear,  or  any  cruel  war  imple- 
ment, 
But  with  the  tender  hand  of  a  babe  that  you  pierced 
my  heart — Bilito. 

SI 


THE  TRANSFORMATION 

As  the  wand  of  TItania, 

Whose  touch  made  real  the  treasured  dreams  of  the 

fancy, 
So  is  the  magic  of  your  kiss — 
For  with  your  kiss  upon  my  lips, 
The  old  earth  and  the  old  heavens  have  passed  away. 
And  a  new  futurity  takes  shape  before  me, — 
And  I  laugh  at  weakness,  pain,  and  grief,  as  though 

they  were  not. 

52 


THE  VOLUPTUARY 

I  LOOKED  in  the  face  of  the  Voluptuary, 

The  coarse  red  flesh,  huge  jaw,  blear  eyes,  the  edges 

of  the  eye-lids  swollen. 
The  great  body  bent  towards  me,  desiring  me,  the 

hands  soft,  the  palm  lines  broken. 
And  I  talked  with  him  on  equal  terms,  on  the  themes 

that  most  appealed  to  him. 
And  I  saw  that  he  had  no  conception  of  hap^ness 

beyond  the  gratifying  of  the  senses. 
And  that  nothing  was  sacred  in  his  eyes,  because  all 

things  appeared  to  him  through  this  medium, 
And  that  when  no  longer  engrossed  by  the  questions 

relating  to  the  brute  nature, 
His  eyes  wandered,  his  fingers  drummed  upon  the 

table,  he  was  distrait,  ill  at  ease. 
And  I  saw  that  all  the  beauty  of  the  world  had  no 

actual  existence  for  him, 
53 


64  THE  VOLUPTUARY 

That  love,  chivalry,  clevotion  to  an  ideal,  were  as  the 

sounding  of  brass  in  his  ears, 
Mere  trifles  to  be  discounted  as  having  no  weight  in 

the  life  of  every  day. 
And  I  saw  that  the  arts,  the  delights  of  literature  or 

of  meditation. 
The  philosopher's  joy,  or  that  of  the  scientist,  who 

lives  in  the  thought  of  the  generations  to  come, 
Had  not  entered  into  the  dull  fibre  of  him,  even  as  a 

suspicion ; 
And  my  heart  yearned  in  pity  over  the  great  creature 

before  me,  as  the  heart  of  a  mother  uiight  at  a 

monster-birth — 
For  I  saw  that  the  brain  was  still  in  the  elementary 

state,  though  he  numbered  the  years  of  full 

manhood. 
And  that  the  body  so  perfect  in  growth,  vigor  and 

proportion. 
Was  as  the  strength  of  the  ox,  unchastened  by  the 

needs  of  an  awakened  intelligence. 


TO  A  PROSTITUTE 

I  SEE  you  walking  the  paths  that  lead  to  failure  and 

disillusion, 
And  I  am  powerless  to  stay  you,  oh  my  sister. 

And  I  see  you  torn  by  the  brambles,  missing  the  sweet 

savor  of  the  fruits  of  the  heart-life. 
And  I  can  speak  no  word,  for  you  will  not  hear  me. 

And  because  I  love  you,  my  spirit  strives  with  you 
and  will  not  relinquish  its  tenure. 

And  a  long  time,  my  face  in  my  hands,  I  sit  wrestling 
with  my  anguish. 

65 


THE  ATHLETE 

As  beautiful  as  a  Greek  god  is  he! 

Neck,  shoulders,  arms,  loins  well  developed 

and  perfectly  proportioned; 
Flesh  firm,  white  and  hairless ;  muscles  hard  under 

the  skin  smooth  as  satin  to  the  touch; 
Thighs,  calves  and  ankles  that  in  repose  are  expres- 
sive of  agility  rather  than  giant  strength; 
Feet  ample,  exquisitely  arched,  carrying  easily  the 

weight  of  the  body; 
Fond  of  sports  and  excelling  in  them,  exulting  in  his 

virility,  often  for  mere  delight  testing  his 

powers  of  endurance ; 
Loved  by  women,  they  that  are  impressed  most  by 

the  extrinsic. 
And  are  themselves  to  be  won  only  by  outward  proofs 

and  valuations. 

56 


THE  ATHLETE  57 

But,  when  he  sues  for  my  love,  looking  gently  upon 
me. 

Caressing  my  hands  with  touches  as  light  as  an  in- 
fant's, 

I  am  as  unresponsive  as  if  no  womanhood  remained 
within  me ; 

For  his  words  are  not  really  sincere. 

Nor  is  his  heart  single; 

And  lacking  these,  all  excellence  of  form  is  as  nothing 
before  me. 


NIGHT-ON-THE-WATERS 

A  STRONG  woman  embraced  me. 

All  night  holding  me  closely,  her  cheek  against  my 

cheek. 
I,  drawn,  as  to  a  magnet,  slept  soundly  at  intervals, 

she  sleeping  not  at  all. 
All  night,  the  wash  of  calm  waters  upon  the  ship's 

sides,  heard  in  the  semi-darkness. 
The  pulse  of  the  engine,  the  stoker's  shovel  feeding 

the  furnaces ; 
At    day-break    rising    together,    joyful,    quick    at 

repartee,  laughing  merrily, 
A  sense  of  new  life-force  budding  at  the  heart  of 

each. 
Each  absorbing  the  native  qualities  of  the  other,  re- 
sponding to  the  needs  of  the  other. 
Gladder  because  of  that  interchange,  henceforth,  each 

conscious  of  the  affinity  in  the  other, 
58 


NIGHT-ON-THE-WATERS  59 

But  when  on  arriving,  she  left  me,  my  joy  went  out 
as  a  candle  that  is  suddenly  extinguished, 

So  much  her  strong  presence  entered  into,  and  pos- 
sessed me. 


A  REALIZATION 

I  AM  the  light  of  the  sun,  embodied  and  made  positive, 
I  am  here  to  shine  with  splendor,  knowing  no  nega- 
tion, fearing  nothing; 
I  am  here  to  shine  not  only  on  those  I  admire,  but 

equally  on  those  who  are  unknown  to  me; 
I  am  here  to  rejoice  not  only  those  who  attract  me, 

but  equally  those  who  repel  me ; 
I  am  here  to  overcome  evil,  for  how  shall  I  know 

darkness,  that  am  of  the  intrinsic  quality  of 

light? 
And  how  shall  I  know  neutrality  when  the  life  in  me 

is  invincible  and  dauntless? 
And  how  shall  I  know  discord  when  the  soul  is  itself 

of  the  supreme  essence  of  love? 
60 


THE  WOOING 

I  wiLii  attract  your  warm  heart  to  me, 

I  will  draw  your  sweet  lips  to  mine, 

I  will  hold  the  blue  fire  of  your  eyes  captive 

Till  the  fulness  of  their  desire  shall  be  satisfied. 

I  will  feel  your  breath  a  vital  atmosphere  about  me. 

Your  encircling  arm  as  a  palace  for  my  body, 

And  your  tender  thoughts  as  the  pathways  for  my 

feet, 
For,  by  the  power  of  the  love  in  me — ^I  will  allure  you, 
Till  the  peace  of  my  heart  shall  become  your  occu- 
pation. 

61 


LOVE'S  RAPTURE 

I  KISSED  his  lips! 

And  all  the  sweetness  of  the  world  was  held 

In  that  brief  rapture  of  ecstatic  joy. 

I  kissed  his  eyes! 

And  I  seemed  floating  through  the  cloudy  spheres, 
Drinking  the  radiance  from  the  largest  stars. 

62 


A  KISS 

When  I  kiss  your  lips ! 

I  am  as  a  ripening  nectarine,  that  is  warmed  through 

and  through  by  the  sun's  rays, 
Becoming  more  delectable  both  to  the  eye  and  to  the 

palate, 
For  through  your  lips,  the  sunshine  and  sweetness  of 

your  heart  are  drawn  unto  me, 
Radiating  through  my  entire  being,  stimulating  and 

perfecting  me. 

63 


SONG  OF  APHRODITE 

Fbom  the  fountain  of  all  Life,  richly  embellished, 

have  I  issued. 
My  body  perfectly  fashioned  and  colored  like  the 

pearl  and  the  rose-tints  of  the  sunrise ; 
The  star  of  clear  thought  set  within  me,  suffusing 

me  with  its  radiance,  like  a  jewel  in  a  crystal 

casket ; 
And  in  my  mouth  a  tongue  of  honey  whose  eloquence 
Makes  flexible  the  strong  wills  of  men  and  their  flesh 

to  become  as  wax  in  my  fingers. 
64 


ASPIRATION 

Oh  to  feel  your  presence ; 

Your  loving  eyes,  lips,  hands,  each  day  as  part  of  me, 

Were  to  know  life  a  victory,  not  a  sufferance. 

To  reach  your  heart; 

To  share  its  impulse,  dreams,  and  aspirations, 
Were  to  know  life  full,  sweet  and  eminent. 

<5 


CHARMIDES 

When  I  bathe  in  the  clear  waters,  dashmg  them  over 

me, 
It  is  only  that  my  body  may  remain  fair  and  supple, 

because  you  loved  it — Charmides ; 
And  when  others  kneel  before  me,  as  Mark  Antony 

knelt  before  Cleopatra, 
Fervently  uttering  those  things  that  are  sweet  to 

hear  from  the  lips  of  men, 
It  is  then  that  I  think  most  of  you — Charmides ; 
And  they  become  as  mere  spectres  that  have  no  sub- 
stance or  meaning. 
In  the  presence  of  the  memory  of  your  adoration — 

Charmides ; 
You  who  have  entered  into,  and  become  as  the  very 

fibre  and  essence  of  my  being. 
66 


LOVE  THAT  IS  EXHAUSTLESS 

I  WILL  look  into  your  eyes  so  fondly  that  uncon- 
sciously you  will  absorb  the  essence  of  my 
thought. 

And  its  strength  will  suffuse  your  being,  like  a 
draught  that  is  drunk  freely. 

And  its  joy  will  remould  your  purpose,  and  you  will 
admit  me  to  your  soul's  sanctuary,  sharing 
its  treasures  with  me; 

And  from  the  courage  of  your  heart,  I  will  weave 
the  purple  of  the  precious  web  of  honor, 
wherewith  to  clothe  me, 

And  from  its  homage,  I  will  draw  the  clear  waters 
of  life  that  are  exhaustless. 
67 


THE  KISS 

I  WILL  kiss  you  till  your  lips  are  more  apt  in  love's 

responses. 
And  your  eyes  are  more  adept  in  translating  love's 

enchantments. 

I  will  thrill  you  to  new  purpose,  till  your  heart 
craves  larger  vistas, 

And  your  language  is  more  lucent  with  the  height- 
ened joy  within  you. 

And  I  will  bestow  upon  you  sucK  gifts  as  you  did 

not  dream  were  earthly. 
So  that  life  will  be  more  valiant,  and  death  will 

have  more  meaning. 
68 


LOVE'S  TUTELAGE 

I  WILL  beguile  your  thoughts  till  they  rest  ardently 

upon  me. 
Instilling  into  your  veins  a  warm  fabric  of  fancy. 
I  will  overcome  the  barrier  of  native  coldness  within 

you, 
Transforming  you  to  new  impulse,  hinting  of  fresh 

endeavor. 
Upon  your  lips  I  will  breathe  the  seal  of  eloquence 

till  they  burn  to  acclaim  me. 
And  upon  your  fingers  I  will  weave  the  web  of  un- 
rest, till  they  seek  to  caress  me ; 
I   will    conquer   your   heart,    disclosing   its    fertile 

sources. 
And  offering  you  large  freedom,  you  will  choose  to 

dwell  beside  me. 

60 


A  PRAYER 

GiED  me  with  the  shield  of  courage  so  that  failure 

and  disillusion  may  not  assail  me; 
Keep  complaint  from  my  nostrils,  and  let  the  white 

dove  of  serenity  sit  brooding  within  me ; 
Make  each  day  its  own  recompense,  the  fulfilment  of 

strong  being  in-drawn  in  its  every  breath; 
Keep  my  thoughts  above  the  idol  of  self-hood. 
My  heart  from  the  snare  of  vain-glory, 
And  my  feet  firm  upon  the  highway  of  Love. 

70 


ADVICE  TO  A  MAIDEN 

My  daughter,  let  your  limbs  be  strong  and  shapely, 

your  mind  single,  and  your  heart  warm  with 

the  fruits  of  cultivated  kindness; 
And  let  its  joy  animate  your  whole  being,  so  that, 

even  in  passing,  men  and  women  alike  will  be 

attracted  to  you. 
And  be  not  concerned  as  to  beauty  of  feature,  or  for 

objects  of  personal  adornment. 
For  with  kindness  alone,  you  can  crown  the  day  witH 

victory. 
Ruling  its  every  issue  by  the  power  of  a  supreme 

womanhood. 

n 


TRUE  LOVE'S  AMBITION 

I  DO  not  want  the  plaudits  of  the  populace, 

Nor  the  praises  of  the  assembly, 

I  do  not  want  the  patronage  of  wealthy  persons,  the 
sanction  of  the  schools,  nor  even  the  approval 
of  my  fellow-workers; 

I  want  one  thing  only,  and  that  urgently  with  all  the 
strength  that  is  in  me. 

And  it  is  this — to  be  something  precious  and  neces- 
sary to  the  life  of  one  whom  I  love  dearly. 
73 


MY  LOVE'S  PICTURE 

Your  lips,  like  those  that  Velasquez  painted, 

Of  a  clear  but  not  too  vivid  red,  and  delicately 
moulded. 

Expressive  of  the  nobility  of  language  in  which  your 
thoughts  take  shape  in  the  mind; 

And  your  eyes,  translucent,  ever-changing,  yet  full 
of  candor. 

Giving  veritable  glimpses  into  your  beauty-compre- 
hending spirit. 

Through    time    and    separation,    everywhere    their 
gentle  influence  accompanies  me. 

Your  eyes  as  lamps  aglow  within  me,  guiding  me. 

And  the  words  of  your  lips  remaining  as  glistening 
gems  in  the  memory. 
73 


RAPTURE 

All  night  in  dreams  his  warm  lips  clung  to  mine. 
And  the  strong  beating  of  his  heart  sustained  me, 
And  onward  we  floated  through  labyrinths  of  twi- 
light mystery, 
Drinking  that  love- joy  that  exceeds  all  voicing. 

74 


THE  FULNESS  OF  LOVE 

Often,  in  happy  moments,  when  the  heart  beats 

swiftly  and  ecstatically, 
A  feeling  of  horror  steals  over  me  like  that  of  sufiFo- 

cation ; 
And  I  fear  that  the  heart  will  break  from  its  very 

excess  of  joy — 
Then  thoughts  of  the  abrupt  transition  seize  upon 

me — 
The  elemental  darkness  and  silence — 
Or    the    precipitation    into    strange    undreamed-of 

spheres. 
The  soul  unready,  leaving  imperfect  that  which  was 

to  be  performed  upon  this  planet. 
Until  at  last  becoming  frightened,  I  rise  quickly  to 

distract  myself, 

75 


"^6  THE  FULNESS  OF  LOVE 

Putting  the  happiness  that  is  too  strong  for  me — 

away  from  me — 
Just  as  I  have  put  sickness,  death  and  disaster — away 

from  me— lest  they  too  should  master  me. 


MEMORIES 

Sometimes  with  smiling  lips  he  thinks  of  me. 
And  eyes  that  keep  long-treasured  souvenirs. 

And  his  heart  urges  his  strong  arms  to  clasp  me, 
As  it  holds  that  longing  close  within  itself. 
77 


A  SIGH 

If  I  could,  by  dreaming,  create  in  your  heart  the 
need  of  me, 

If  I  could,  by  longing,  make  your  soul  responsive; 

And  if,  by  singing,  I  could  produce  upon  your  lips 
the  hunger  to  kiss  my  lips; 

Then  would  the  long  silence  become  replete  and  sat- 
isfying. 

Then  would  the  deep  solitude  of  my  days  content 
me; 

Then,  even  though  apart  from  you  still,  I  could  live 
rejoicing. 

78 


THE  CHARMED  VOICE 

As  Ashtali  doomed  to  perpetual  search  for  her  lost 
child — whom  she  so  dearly  loved — 

Seeks  everywhere,  and  seeks  forever  vainly, 

^While  he,  in  the  wary  form  of  the  nightingale — ever 
eluding  her — 

Pours  out  the  sweet  melancholy  of  her  heart  upon  the 
world. 

Till  in  the  charm  of  the  singing,  she  forgets  the  fu- 
tility of  her  quest; 

So,  since  my  heart  is  destined  to  continual  longing 
for  you, 

May  not  my  words,  reflecting  a  love  as  unfailing  as  a 
mother's. 

Reach  you  as  a  bird-voice,  touching  your  heart  as 
unconsciously. 

Awakening  within  you  a  sympathy  responsive  to  my 
loneliness. 

79 


REFLECTION 

As  the  planet  Jupiter,  by  his  brilliance  and  stead- 
fastness, 
Compels  even  the  waters  of  a  turgid  stream  to  reflect 

his  beams. 
So,  by  the  intensity  of  my  love-thoughts 
Condensed  and  centred  upon  you. 
Shall  I  prevail  at  last  upon  your  heart 
That  is  full  of  the  pure  limpid  waters  of  life. 
To  respond  to  me  and  to  fuse  the  love  you  shall  draw 

out  of  me. 
Into  the  work  of  your  hands,  which  again 
Shall  be  reflected  into  the  lives  of  others. 

80 


UNSPOTTED  FROM  THE  WORLD 

As  Ceres  wrapped  herself  in  a  cloud, 

When  wishing  to  become  invisible  to  the  eyes  of 

mortals ; 
So,  sitting  before  the  foot-lights, 
Regarded  by  semi-circles  of  sensual  faces, 
Shall  I  wrap  myself  around  in  a  cloak  of  indifference. 
So  that  the  thoughts  and  desires  aroused  at  the  sight 

of  my  physical  being, 
Shall  fall  upon  me  as  lightly  as  the  apple-blossom 

falls  upon  the  grass  of  the  orchard. 
81 


THE  BANNER  OF  LOVE 

As  she  who  so  fervently  loved  the  king  of  old  time, 

So  do  I  love  him  who  is  my  king — with  all  love — 

And  I  walk  humbly  as  one  whom  God  has  marked  for 
his  special  favor — 

Yet  glad  beyond  all  measure  in  the  bounty  of  that 
love, — 

That  I  should  be  filled  with  the  same  delight  that 
filled  the  heart  of  her  of  long  ago, 

Singing  as  she  sang,  with  the  same  joy  and  inspira- 
tion, 

Rejoicing,  as  she  rejoiced  in  the  glory  and  wisdom 
of  Solomon. 

82 


SONG— SEPARATION 

Come  back  to  me,  my  beloved,  across  the  waters  of 

the  sea, 
For  my  days  are  as  a  phantom,  that  has  no  stability, 
And  your  absence  is  cruel,  as  nettles  are  to  the  flesh. 

n 

Could  the  Bobolink  sing  and  know  contentment,  if 

in  his  migration  he  were  companionless? 
So  I  am  distrait  and  unsatisfied. 
For  without  you  there  is  no  completeness  in  anything. 

m 

As  a  plant  growing  in  the  shadow  of  a  deep  wall, 

where  no  sunlight  penetrates. 
Is  puny,  and  fails  in  the  perfection  of  its  fruition, 
So  without  the  joy  of  your  presence,  do  the  qualities 

within  me  remain  unexpanded. 
83 


84 


SONG SEPARATION 


IV 

For  my  soul  thirsts  for  you,  as  the  lips  of  the  babe 

without  speech, 
For  the  breasts  of  the  mother — ^indifferent  to  all 

substitutes, 

V 

And  the  admiration  of  men,  and  the  flatteries  of  their 

tongues. 
Are  as  barren  soil,  in  which  no  seed  is  germinate. 

VI 

And  the  gifts  they  offer,  the  roses  and  the  lilies. 
Are  as  the  Thistle  of  Scotland,  that  is  prickly  and 
without  perfume. 

vn 

Come  back  to  me,  my  beloved,  across  the  waters  of 

the  sea. 
For  what  is  the  beauty  of  the  night,  without  a  warm 

hand  to  clasp  your  hand  in  the  stillness, 


SONG SEPAEATION 


85 


Or  a  cool  cheek  to  be  laid  against  your  cheek, 
On  the  bed  of  leaves  prepared  upon  the  moist  earth? 

vin 

Or  the  wonder  of  the  midnight  sun  of  the  North 
lands, 

Or  the  glory  of  the  stars  of  the  South — if  the  eyes 
that  love  your  eyes  beyond  all  these  are  not 
beside  you? 

And  what  do  you  find  in  those  places  towards  which 
you  voyage, 

The  Fjords,  the  promontories,  and  the  lonely  hill- 
sides. 

That  is  not  already  mirrored  in  my  soul? 

IX 

And  can  the  simple  hearts  of  the  North  peasants 

Know  and  love  you  any  better  than  I  know  and  love 
you, 

Whose  vision  has  been  clarified  in  the  crucible  of  the 
world. 

And  reads  through  the  prism  of  experience  and  com- 
parison? 


86  SONG ^SEPARATION 

X 

Come  back  to  me,  my  beloved,  across  the  waters  of 

the  sea. 
That  we  may  not,  each,  by  the  vanity  of  separation. 
Fail  to  grasp  the  true  meaning  of  the  life  for  which 

we  were  created. 


AFFINITY 

When  hearts  are  attuned. 

And  minds  are  companioned 

So  that  a  perfect  communion  results  between  two 
beings, 

Then,  if  the  ocean  separates — that  Is  nothing; 

Or  the  forests  of  the  Andes,  or  the  desolate  heights 
of  the  Dolomites — that  is  nothing; 

For  there  is   no   condition   arising  from  the  non- 
propinquity  of  the  body, 

Nor  any  law  existing  in  the  long  stretches  of  the 
universe, 

That  can  annul  the  attraction  of  two  responsive 
spirits. 

87 


LOVE'S  ASSURANCE 

Now  that  I  am  conscious  of  the  native  power  within 

me. 
And  know  myself  to  contain  those  elements  that  are 

needful  to  you. 
To  feel  your  warm  flesh  touching  my  flesh, 
And  to  respond  to  the  thrill  of  your  life-renewing 

kisses, 
I  know  to  be  as  essential  to  your  well-being  as  it  is 

essential  to  my  well-being, 
And  that  in  no  other  way  can  we  find  expression  for 

that  which  we  are — 
So  that  I  take  no  thought  to  the  distance  now  divid- 
ing our  bodies. 
Nor  to  the  time  already  spent  in  the  futility  of  un- 

guided  impulse. 
For  that  which  is  to  be,  to  the  Faithful  exists  already, 
And  is  inalienable,  and  not  to  be  averted. 

88 


THE  SOUL  INVINCIBLE 

Not  all  the  matter  that  composes  the  mountains  of 

this  planet, 
Not  the  waters  that  fill  up  the  measure  of  its  oceans, 
Not  the  catastrophes  that  occur  thereon,  by  night  or 

in  tempests. 
Not  Arctic  wastes,  tropic  heats,  swamps,  the  desert. 
Not  all  the  wisdom  accumulated  by  the  mind  of  man 

from  the  beginning. 
The  austerity  of  his  creeds,  the  passions  of  his  heart, 

the  illusions  of  his  fancy, 
Not  these,  or  anything  created  or  not  yet  created, 
Can  hinder  our  souls  from  uniting. 

89 


WINGED  THOUGHTS 

Swiftly  at  night,  across  the  waters,  my  thoughts 

speed  to  you. 
When  after  weariness,  the  need  of  your  love  is  heav- 
iest upon  me. 
You,  who  are  as  the  elements  that  compose  my  own 

body,  whose  spirit  is  the  sustenance  of  my 

spirit. 
You,  who  are  the  foundation  of  my  active  hours,  and 

the  strength  of  my  passive  hours. 
You,  whose  memory  is  as  a  sanctuary  to  my  pilgrim 

heart. 
Whose  breath  is  as  living  waters  to  the  soles  of  my 

pilgrim  feet — 
You,  whose  voice  wakes  sweet  promise  long  dormant 

within  me. 
And  whose  eyes  distil  through  me  a  calm  like  a 

benediction. 

90 


LOVE'S  HARVEST 

I  KNOW  that  these  love-thoughts  I  give  off  to  you, 

Will  come  back  to  me  equal  in  quality  and  kind,  in 
the  fulness  of  time. 

Since  everywhere  throughout  this  universe  is  a  just 
law  of  proportion  and  measure. 

So  that  your  silence  of  the  long  days  and  nights, 
proves  nothing, 

And  that  which  those  less  believing  than  myself  call 
'indifference,  proves  nothing. 

For  I  know  that  these  love-thoughts  cross  the  atmos- 
phere of  your  brain,  like  shooting  stars, 

And  falling  into  your  heart  form  a  world  that  later  I 
shall  inhabit. 

91 


TO  MY  OWN  SOUL 

Go  out  to  him,  oh  spirit,  across  the  distance,  and  be 
with  him  through  the  darkness ; 

Go  out  to  him,  speak  gently,  and  incline  his  thoughts 
to  you; 

Go  out  to  him,  oh  spirit,  surround  him  with  your  sub- 
stance. 

In  the  silence  enter  into  the  sanctuary  of  his  heart, 

Blending  thought  with  thought,  till  you  stand  re- 
vealed before  him. 

93 


TELEPATHY 

Is  it  because  your  heart  leans  to  me  across  the  dis- 
tance, sweet  love, 

That  I  dream  of  you  so  constantly  and  so  vividly? 

The  fervor  of  its  impulse  creating  a  perfect  com- 
munion between  us. 

As  the  wire  conveys  the  electric  current  to  its  des- 
tination. 

Or  is  it  only  an  idle  fancy — a  dream  within  a  dream — 

That  you  come  to  me  at  recuperative  moments  in  the 
night. 

Absorbing  me  into  your  being,  like  the  air  you  inhale, 

Grafting  me  by  word  and  touch  with  your  own  native 
qualities, 

So  that  by  day  all  that  I  am  is  the  reflex  expression 
of  you? 

93 


LOVE— NOT  A  CfflMERA 

Who  says  that  Love  is  a  chimera? 

Do  I  not  live  by  Love,  inhaling  it  like  the  oxygen? 

Do  I  not  each  day  consort  with  Love,  and  at  night, 
do  I  not  retire,  folding  Love  to  my  bosom? 

And  do  I  not  waken,  still  clasping  Love,  unveiling 
every  motive  of  the  heart  to  Love's  scrutiny? 

And  that  which  Love  approves,  I  follow;  but  the 
things  Love  disapproves,  I  set  aside  as  fruit- 
less. 

And  always  my  days  are  gladsome,  my  nights  tran- 
quil and  my  soul  tastes  satisfaction. 

So  then,  if  Love's  dictates  create  at  all  times  happy 
results  for  me, 

"Why  would  they  not  equally  create  happy  results 
for  you? 

H 


IMMORTALITY 

Who  says  that  earthly  love  is  not  immortal? 

Is  not  the  soul  of  my  love  fused  into  my  soul, 

His  thoughts  having  life  in  my  breath,  his  heart 

warm  in  my  heart — 
Ever  near  me — sustaining  me — 
Through  the  dark  maze  of  the  evils  of  ignorance. 
Through  days  of  contention  when  faith  seems  illusion. 
Through  days  of  despair  when  the  struggle  seems 

futile. 
Through  the  tragedy  of  fear  and  self-hood  that  con- 
fronts one  at  every  hand — 
In  the  world  that  man  (the  idol-worshipper)  and  not 
the  God-lover,  has  created  for  himself? 
95 


LOVE'S  INTERCHANGE 

Wht  should  I  not  give  off  the  pollen  of  my  solitary 

heart  to  you, 
Attracting  you  to  me  by  a  mutual  and  beautiful 

dependence. 
As  one  flower  flourishes  the  better  for  the  color  and 

fragrance  in  the  other — 
By  contact,  each  fertilizing  the  other  and  bringing 

forth  a  richer  harvest  because  of  that  contact  ? 
For  surely  the  well-springs  of  love  and  of  creative 

genius  in  you 
Await  the  demand  of  an  imperative  need — 
To  call  into  existence  the  fulness  of  their  powers. 
And  to  restrain  you  in  your  arrogance  of  rich  pos- 
session. 
From  pouring  out  their  saving  waters  upon  desert 

places. 

96 


A  SCENE  REVISITED 

I  SAW  the  little  home  of  my  childhood. 

By  night,  in  a  soft  rain,  after  many  years ; 

And  I  looked  up  at  the  windows,  where  a  dim  light 

was  burning — as  of  old — 
And  it  seemed  as  if  I  might  see  my  mother's  shadow 

crossing  the  curtain  at  any  moment. 
And  I  saw  her  face,  as  it  grew  out  of  the  muffled 

silence  of  the  past, 
And  I  heard  again  the  familiar  step  and  the  voice 

that  called  me  lovingly  by  sweet  names, 
And  I  remembered  the  want  of  her  widowed  years,  her 

physical  privations. 
And  the  neglect  and  heart-hunger  that  are  harder 

to  bear  than  any  of  these. 
And  I  remembered  also,  her  deserted  last  years,  her 

lonely  death-agony, 
97 


98  A  SCENE  REVISITED 

And  a  hot  pain  shot  into  my  eyelids  and  across  my 
throat,  that  was  like  the  sting  of  a  scorpion ; 

And  I  turned  and  ran  through  the  wet  darkness, 
towards  the  train  that  was  to  bear  me  away 
forever, 

Not  daring  once,  to  look  back  at  the  little  house, 
with  the  yellow  light  in  the  window; 

Hurrying  from  the  past,  its  scenes,  its  memories,  ter- 
rified, like  a  somnambulist  pursued,  in  some 
awful  dream. 


IN  THE  FOG 

Walking  on  Piccadilly — 

My  heart  nostalgic  for  the  broad  sunshine  of 
America, 

The  aspirational  hue  of  the  skies,  the  clear,  limpid 
atmosphere. 

Groping  my  way  through  the  dense  fog,  intensely 
alone,  confused  and  bewildered. 

As  one  adrift  upon  a  raft  in  the  midst  of  the  sound- 
ing solitude  of  the  sea. 

The  moving  multitude  on  either  hand  like  the  waters 
that  threaten  to  engulf  me. 

The  brief  looks  of  peering  eyes  chilling  me  with  in- 
difference, transmitting  a  sense  of  utter  defeat 
and  despair, 

99 


/lOO  IN  THE  FOG 

And  the  walls  of  tall  buildings  looming  endlessly  like 

annihilating  phantoms. 
In  all  that  vast  concourse  not  one  friendly  hand  to 

grasp  my  hand, 
Nor  one  voice  to  cheer  me  with  kindly  recognition. 


PHANTASMA 

I  SAW  in  a  idream  my  lover  asleep  before  me, 

And  I  approached  silently,  my  heart  bounding  in 

joyful  expectation. 
For  I  thought  each  moment  to  see  the  dear  eyes  open- 
ing to  regard  me. 
The  quiet  lights  of  intelligent  thought  suffusing  them 

like  opal-lights. 
And  I  felt  the  breath  from  the  sweet  lips  animating 

me,  as  if  it  were  part  of  my  own  being ; 
And  I  longed  in  every  fibre  to  hear  again  the  words 

that  were  spoken  in  my  ear  so  gently,  long 

ago; 
But,  as  I  knelt  to  bestow  the  kiss  of  the  renewal  of 

love,  that  was  burning  upon  my  lips, 
101 


102  PHANTASMA 

As  suddenly  he  vanished,  and  one  by  one,  in  the  dim 

light  of  my  chamber. 
The  familiar  objects  of  daily  use  detached  themselves 

drearily. 


?^^ 


UNREST 

Out  of  the  intensity  of  my  longing,  my  songs  take 

shape, — 
And  many  who  know  not  the  pain  of  their  origin, 

write  congratulating  me, — 
And  I  sigh  over  these  missives,  sometimes  wearily, — 
For  I  know  that  if  he  whom  my  soul  loves  were  beside 

me,  these  words  would  find  no  utterance. 
But  would  vanish  as  dewdrops  in  the  sunshine  of 

the  heart. 

103 


V* 


LONGING 

Intoleeably  my  heart  hungers, 

And  its  strength  is  waning  in  the  fervor  of  its  longing. 

As  a  dewdrop  on  the  edge  of  a  grass-leaf  trembles— 

My  soul  upon  the  surface  of  my  being  trembles  and 
hesitates, 

Loath  to  depart  without  one  glimpse  of  your  reflec- 
tion, 

To  ease  for  a  moment  the  sting  of  its  earth-need. 

The  pain  of  its  love-desire. 

104 


PSAPPHA'S  JEWEL  SONG 

Jewels  have  I  in  plenty! 

Rare,  and  of  a  quality  that  places  them  beyond  all 

value ! 
But  they  are  not  dug  from  the  mines,  nor  sold  in 

shops ; 
Neither  is  the  possession  of  millions  a  guarantee  of 

their  possession, 
For  my  jewels  are  the  faces  of  my  lovers ; 
That,  when  alone  with  myself  in  the  night,  float  before 

me  in  the  shadows. 
Lighting  me,  as  first  magnitude  stars,  each  shining 

with  its  own  peculiar  lustre. 
The  face  of  Nicias,  pale  and  pure,  radiant  with  the 

fixed  fervency  of  the  spirit, 
That  is  an  opal — 

105 


106  psappha's  jewel  song 

And  Midas,  red-lipped,  red-cheeked,  moulded  exqui- 
sitely, as  if  by  the  hand  of  Phidias, 

That  is  a  ruby — 

Lysander's  face,  reflecting  the  swift  play  of  the 
flights  of  the  intellect,  yet  sweet  with  the 
sunshine  of  the  heart, 

That  is  a  diamond — 

And  the  placid  face  of  Lykas,  formed  upon  the  long 
silences  and  solitudes  of  the  sea. 

That  is  a  pearl —  ^ 

And  as  I  commune  with  these  in  a  luxury  of  blended 
memory. 

Entering  at  intervals  into  the  separate  joy  in  which 
the  love  of  each  wrapped  me  as  in  a  garment, 

I  know  myself  to  be  one  of  the  truly  blessed  ones  in 
the  life  of  this  earth; 

And,  as  I  drift  away  into  the  delectable  darkness  of 
slumber, 

I  am  content,  as  a  babe  that  falls  asleep  on  the  bosom 
of  its  mother. 


PSAPPHA'S  DYING  SONG 

Men  I  have  loved  deeply, 

Kissing  their  lips,  and  caressing  their  flesh  with  firm 

yet  gentle  fingers. 
Arid  their  voices  have  been  better  to  me  than  riches, 
Their  faces  dearer  than  any  hint  of  Paradise. 
Yet  like  Aeneas  of  old,  full  of  world-lust  they  have 

left  me. 
Prizing  more  highly  those  baubles  to  be  delved  for  in 

the  rubbish  marts  of  the  earth. 

One  I  loved  passionately. 

In  whose  presence  my  lips  have  drunk  ineffable  sweet- 
ness. 

Homage  I  gave  him  and  reverence,  reserving  no  part 
of  me  from  him, 

But  these  he  took  as  ashes,  offering  me  in  return, 
indifference. 

107 


108 


PSAPPHA  S  DYING  SONG 


One  I  loved  tenderly, 

And  my  joy  I  poured  out  before  him  in  songs  of 

adulation, 
And  his  breath  by  day  was  as  a  fountain  renewing 

me. 
And  at  night  as  a  seal  it  lay  upon  my  slumbers, 
Yet  he,  too,  departed,  giving  me  in   return  long 

silence, 
Silence  in  which  the  strength  of  my  heart  is  ebbing, 
Silence  in  which  my  soul  has  grown  life-weary. 


AN  INQUIRY 

Why  should  I  be  disconsolate,  when  your  eyes  con- 
tain all  that  is  of  joy  upon  the  earth? 

And  why  should  I  be  desolate,  when  your  voice  trans- 
forms me  into  more  fruitful  being? 

And  why  should  I  be  loveless,  when  your  caress  is 
as  the  peace  of  God  poured  out  upon  me? 

109 


THE  HEART'S  QUESTIONS 

Must  I  live  as  if  you  had  never  been  a  reality  to  me 
But  only  as  some  sweet  intangibility  that  crossed  the 
vision  of  a  night? 

Must  I  live  as  if  your  eyes  had  never  suffused  me  with 

their  effulgence. 
Or  your  lips  breathed  the  inspiration  of  their  love 

upon  me? 

Must  I  live  as  if  my  body  had  never  vibrated  to  your 

embraces. 
Or  my  spirit  absorbed  your  spirit,  as  a  mirror  holds 

the  face  that  looks  into  it? 

Must  I  live  always  in  the  endurance  of  long  silence? 
Must  I  live  always  in  3enial  of  that  which  is  most 
urgent? 

110 


HEART  SICKNESS 

When  it  occurs  to  me  that  possibly  you  may  be 

indifferent  to  me, 
That  my  being  lends  no  light  to  your  footsteps, 
And  my  love  no  warmth  to  your  heart, 
Then  the  color  of  the  world  lies  as  ashes  before  me 
And  the  taste  of  life  becomes  bitter  upon  my  lips. 

Ill 


LOVE'S  ANTICIPATION 

As  I  observe  the  mass  of  men, 

The  paucity  of  their  thoughts  about  life,  that  is 

stamped  upon  their  faces, 
And  the  lack  of  true  courtesy  in  their  bearing  to- 
wards their  women-kind, 
I  am  repelled  by  the  mediocrity  of  the  qualities  that 

compose  them. 
By  the  civilization,  religion,  or  whatever  process  that 

evolves  them  as  a  result. 
And  I  thank  God  for  the  love  of  him  upon  whom  my 

heart  has  set  its  choice. 
As  I  remember  the  look  in  his  eyes  that  are  serene  with 

the  strength  of  the  spirit. 
And  I  rejoice  that  I  am  a  woman  and  that,  through 

his  love  for  me, 
I  may  become  the  mother  of  a  man  like  unto  him. 

113 


FORSAKEN 

An  old  woman  out  in  the  rainstorm, 

Her  poor  garments  wet  through,  her  face  wearing  a 

look  of  infinite  patience — 
Leaning  on  a  stick  she  goes,  her  movements  retarded 

by  rheumatism. 
In  every  detail,  giving  off  her  entourage  of  hopeless 

misery  and  desolation: 
And  I  think  of  the  strong  days  of  her  youth  when 

her  hands  wrought  useful  labors. 
When  being  desired  of  men,  her  lips  gave  warm 

kisses,  and  her  womb  was  fruitful. 
And  I  ask  myself,  why  has  their  strength  fallen  into 

emptiness,  that  she  is  thus  destitute? 
But  when  it  occurs  to  me  that  even  now  she  may  be 

the  mother  of  children. 
Who  being  engrossed  with  their  own  wants  and  those 

113 


114  FOESAKEN 

of    their    offspring,    are    careless    of    her 

necessities. 
For  a  moment  I  am  filled  with  a  sense  of  the  cruelty 

of  Nature's  mandates, 
As  I  watch  the  forsaken  old  woman  limping  with 

rheumatic  feet  through  the  rainstorm. 


THE  BLIND  PEDDLER 

A  POOR  blind  man  on  Broadway, 

Selling  pencils,  shoe-laces  and  matches. 

Still  in  the  prime  of  life,  his  body  vigorous  and 

shapely. 
Always  in  the  same  place,  motionless,  leaning  against 

a  rail — 
Something  in  the  patient  droop   of  the  lips,   still 

cheeks  and  closed  eyelids,  that  touches  one 

deeply, 
Expressing  more  vividly  than  words  the  long  resig- 
nation, and  silent  separate  broodings. 
All  day  the  active  stream  of  life  passes  before  him, 

yet  he  is  very  lonely. 
All  day  vibrating  to  the  strenuous  life  in  which  he 

takes  no  part, 

115 


116  THE  BLIND  PEDDLER 

And  I  wonder  what  his  thoughts  are  as  he  stands 

there  lost  in  his  own  isolation, 
And  what  the  nature  of  his  hopes  may  be  when 

released  from  his  awful  earth-darkness. 


THE  LOVE-LETTER 

A  LETTER  on  the  sea  is  speeding  to  me ; 
Soon,  with  rejoicing  heart,  I  shall  receive  it, 
And  with  impatient  fingers  break  the  seal — 
And  with  impatient  fingers  break  the  seal. 

At  first  the  words  will  seem  dim,  or  as  symbols. 
And  yet  at  once  my  soul  will  be  transported. 
Behind  them  I  shall  see  your  blue  eyes  beaming — 
Behind  them  I  shall  see  your  blue  eyes  beaming. 

And  a  sweet  sense  as  of  some  vital  presence. 
Will  hold  me  spellbound  in  its  fascination ; 
The  love  of  the  warm  heart  that  speaks  to  mine — 
The  love  of  the  warm  heart  that  speaks  to  mine. 

117 


THE  RETORT 

Do  you  for  a  moment  fancy  that  the  mere  drudgery 
of  work 

Can  satisfy  the  craving  need  of  happiness  in  the  hu- 
man heart? 

That  in  the  performing  of  daily  routine  can  be  found 
a  substitute 

For  the  freedom  of  thought  and  act  that  is  needful 
to  the  growth  of  the  creative  spirit? 

And  do  you  for  a  moment  fancy  that  going  out 

among  the  masses, 
Toiling  with  those  who  dwell  upon  the  least  of  things, 

discounting  the  better, 
That  is,  the  being  valued  by  the  market-price  of 

that  which  the  hands  perform, 
118 


THE  RETOET  119 

Rather  than  for  any  quality  of  character  or  intellect? 

For  if  you  believe  that  these  can  take  the  place  of 
love  or  of  comprehensive  intercourse, 

Then  do  you  acknowledge  yourself  as  capable  only  of 
the  functional  existence  of  the  brute, 

The  higher  meaning  of  life  having  entirely  escaped 
you — 

Otherwise  you  would  not  offer  these  things  as  essen- 
tials, sufficient  in  themselves  to  live  by, 

That  are  in  reality  as  empty  husks,  until  love  has 
added  the  sustaining  principle. 


FUTURITION 

JTheee  are  those  who  affirm  that  we  are  to  be  forever 

restricted  upon  this  earth, 
By  the  action  upon  our  bodies  of  those  laws  that 

govern  the  elements  out  of  which  they  are 

composed ; 
That  ooir  feet,  being  drawn  by  magnetism  to  the 

earth's  crust,  they  cannot  safely  deviate  from 

their  natural  course, 
And  that  to  be  truly  progressive  we  must  conform  to 

the  limitations  imposed  upon  us  by  divine 

authority ; 
And  when  accidents  occur  at  sea,  or  in  air-ships,  they 

bring  these  forward  as  proofs  in  favor  of 

their  arguments. 
But  I  say,  that  we  are  here  upon  this  earth  to  accom- 
plish that  which  is  to  be  accomplished, 
120 


FUTUKITION 


121 


That  we  will  overcome  those  laws  that  restrain  our 
bodies,  making  them  subservient  to  our  wills, 

That  we  will  walk  upon  the  face  of  the  waters  as 
easily  as  we  now  walk  over  our  grass-plots — 
in  the  fulness  of  time — 

Tliat  we  will  have  dominion  over  the  realms  of  space, 
by  other  means  than  air-ships — ^in  the  fulness 
of  time — 

And  that  greater  things  than  are  yet  conceived  by  the 
intuitive  minds  of  this  century  shall  become 
realities. 

For  the  dawn  of  that  perfect  day  when  man  shall 
enter  into  the  full  knowledge  of  his  own  na- 
ture and  powers 

Has  but  just  glimmered  over  this  Planet. 


MEDITATION 

People  come  to  me  for  sympathy  in  their  troubles, 

Saying  that  the  trials  of  their  lives  are  insurmount- 
able, 

And  laying  before  me  a  sequence  of  events  In  which 
is  revealed  either  a  want  of  judgment,  sim- 
plicity or  candor. 

,Wife  warring  against  husband,  and  vice  versa ;  child 
against  parent, 

Passing  their  lives  under  the  debasing  influence  of 
strife  and  the  unseemly  desire  for  revenge. 

Disputing  over  temporal  things,  each  doing  violence 
to  the  finer  sensibilities  of  the  other. 

Unveiling  each  other's  foibles  and  shortcomings  to 
the  casual  observer, 

Or  dragging  each  other  irreverently  through  the  law 
courts, — 

122 


MEDITATION 


123 


Forgetful    that    the    flesh    bonds    are    for    mutual 

strength  and  forbearance. 
And  I  listen — my  hands  idle,  my  whole  being  inert, 

waiting ; 
But,  sometimes,  to  the  hum  of  the  words,  my  own 

thoughts  take  flight  backward,  over  the  past. 
And  I  see  again  the  face  of  one  who  was  as  the  breath 

of  life  to  my  nostrils ; 
And  taste  again  the  living  cup  that  was  snatched 

away,  even  as  it  foamed  upon  my  lips ; 
And  feel  the  desolation  that  enclosed  me  as  a  wilder- 
ness— 
That,  had  not  the  Love,  which  is  as  a  torch  within  the 

hand,  been  mine  to  guide  me. 
Long  might  I  have  wandered,  lost  in  the  mazes  of  that 

ruin. 
But  when  I  speak  the  words  that  are  born  out  of  my 

love-memory. 
They  seem  to  understand  me  very  little! 
And  if  I  say  that  nothing  is  insurmountable  upon 

this  earth. 
Excepting  only  the  vanity  of  our  separate  egoism. 
They  seem  then  also,  to  understand  me  just  as  little. 


HEART  HUNGER 

I  WANT  you  with  the  strong  want  of  the  heart, 

That  for  the  attainment  of  its  fulness  craves  the 
motive  of  your  love, 

And  my  soul  cries  out  to  you  with  a  need  that  is  im- 
perative, 

For  without  the  response  of  your  heart,  I  am  as  a 
signal  sent  out  across  the  distance. 

That  finding  no  interpreter  falls  empty  upon  the 
ether. 

134 


SELF-CONQUERED 

My  heart  goes  out  to  you  and  finding  no  refuge,  re- 
turns to  me,  afflicted, 

My  voice  cries  out  to  you,  and  hearing  no  response, 
subsides  again  within  me, 

My  soul,  hovering  about  you,  unsensed,  re-enters  me 
in  anguish — 

And  brooding  within  itself  feels  that  repose  that 
sustains  and  is  uplifting. 

That  peace  in  which  is  born  a  source  of  self- joy  that 
endures  and  is  courageous. 
125 


QUESTIONS 

Is  it  a  dream  that  I  dream  of  you  and  love  you, 
That  my  thoughts  dwell  on  your  memory  with  delight 
and  satisfaction? 

Is  it  a  dream  that  I  need  you  with  such  urgence 
That  my  heart  is  often  heavy  with  its  freight  of 
over-longing? 

Is  it  a  dream  that  you  realize  with  gladness 
That  my  dreaming  is  the  mirror  where  your  soul  finds 
clear  reflection? 

126 


THE  BOOK  OF  RUMI 

I  HOLD  the  book  of  RumI  in  my  hand, 

And  I  know  that  it  is  not  the  printer's  art  whose 

touch  so  thrills  me, 
But  the  sense  that  it  is  really  the  hand  of  Rumi  that 

I  hold  in  my  hand. 
That  the  same  life  that  animated  him  so  long  ago, 

animates  me  now. 
That  in  his  breath  I  breathe,  with  his  love  I  love  that 

we  are  one,  I  in  him,  and  he  in  me — 
And  I  know  that  the  time  that  divides  our  physical 

being  is  nothing — 
That  this  union  that  is  of  no  time,  yet  of  all  time, 

being  born  of  the  spirit. 
Is  the  inheritance  of  those  who  enter  perfectly  into 

the  joy  of  the  life  of  this  earth. 
And  to  such  it  is  also  given  to  come  into  the  knowledge 

of  the  joy  that  is  not  of  this  earth. 
127 


THE  FLOWER  OF  SILENCE 

When  your  heart  was  coldest — a  few  pleading 
words. 

And  when  most  indifferent — a  few  words  of  tender- 
ness; 

When  loneliest,  I  spoke  to  you  gently  of  intimate 
things ; 

And  when  despondent,  I  sang  till  your  heart  leaned 
to  catch  the  meaning, 

As  the  ear  leans  to  catch  the  song  of  the  sky-lark, 
singing  high  up  over  the  desolation  of  the 
Campania, 

And  in  the  productive  soil  of  long  silence,  that  in- 
tervened, 

A  strong  seed  sprouted  and  became  a  tree  of  majestic 
proportion. 

Under  whose  shade  I  now  walk  through  the  heat  of 
the  mid-day. 

Inhaling  the  perfume  of  its  perfect  blossom. 

128 


VESPERS 

The  faultless   tones  of  the  tenor,   singing  in  the 

Stabat  Mater 
Triumphantly — to  make  his  voice  heard  above  the 

peal  of  the  organ — 
In  their  clarity,  brought  before  me  the  beauty  of 

your  eyes — 
Their  love-expression,  the  memory  of  which  affects 

me  strangely,  engrossing  me. 
As  at  those  moments  when,  contemplating  the  works 

of  some  great  master. 
We  are  touched  by  the  devotion,  the  untiring  zeal  that 

their  creation  reveals; 
So  at  all  times,  are  my  thoughts  of  you  uplifting 

and  inspiring. 
Effacing  from  my  heart  that  which  is  unworthy  that 

love-memory. 

129 


130  VESPERS 

And  all  triumph  moments  in  art,  nature,  or*  human 

action, 
Are  as  rest  to  my  heart,  like  jour  voice  speaking 

softly  and  tenderly. 


THE  RETURN 

The  very  air  seems  to  breathe  of  you,  as  I  step  over 
the  threshold, 

And  the  long  dim  hall  rich  with  its  carvings  and 
bronzes, 

Recalls  sweet  tones  of  your  voice,  that  afterward  be- 
came most  dear  to  me. 

And  looks  from  your  dear  eyes,  the  memory  of  which 
clings  inseparably  to  certain  objects. 

And  the  warm  glow  of  the  drawing  room  with  its 
orchid-sprays  and  shimmer  of  antique  pot- 
teries. 

Where  first  we  came  face  to  face — ^long  ago — each 
unsuspecting. 

Of  that  which,  later,  each  was  to  become  to  the  other. 

But  now,  across  the  glimpses  of  the  quiet  street,  seen 
through  the  windows, 
131 


132  THE  RETURN 

The  first  pale  leaves  of  autumn  flutter,  adding  a  wist- 

fulness  to  my  musing. 
Passing  like  memories  of  a  tragic  past,  through  the 

substance  of  a  present  joy. 


ABSENCE 

With  time  so  swift-running, 

And  youth  evanescent, 

And  strength  unenduring. 

And  beauty  so  frail, — 
Oh  love,  we  are  losing  too  much  of  life's  treasure. 
In  being  thus  absent,  the  one  from  the  other. 

With  danger  impending. 

And   sorrow  surrounding, 

And  hope  so  illusive. 

And  joy  insecure, — 
In  being  thus  parted,  oh  love,  we  are  losing 
Life's  highest,  sincerest,  love's  sweetest  most  precious. 

133 


DESPONDENCY 

My  days  are  cheerless, 

My  flesh  is  weary. 

My  blood  is  sluggish, 

My  thoughts  despondent. 

For  your  long  absence  turns  my  energy  to  brooding, 

Destroys  my  vigor  and  makes  void  my  aspiration. 

My  steps  are  lagging. 
My  toil  seems  futile, 
My  heart  is  restless. 
My  words  are  phantoms, 

For  lacking  you,  I  am  as  a  child  without  guidance, 
And  my  soul  yearns  and  is  lonely  and  non-progres- 
sive. 

134 


SONG— SEPARATION 

I  WANT  the  beauty  of  your  eyes, 
The  kisses  of  your  lips, 
The  softness  of  your  cheek. 
The  touches  of  your  hand. 
For  these  would  be  as  sunshine  to  my  heart,  here,  in 
these  bleak  lands  of  the  North,  where  I  am 
perishing  for  love. 

I  need  the  clearness  of  your  thoughts. 
The  sincerity  of  your  speech. 
The  nobility  of  your  aims. 
The  devotion  of  your  heart. 
For  these  would  be  as  warmth  to  my  body  here  where 
I  am  desolate,  in  these  cold  lands  of  the  NortH. 
135 


THE  HEART  TRIUMPHAL 

I  STUDY  the  beautiful  "  New  Thought "  philosophy. 
And  there  are  moments  when  I  believe  myself  beyond 

the  influence  of  time,  place  or  personality ; 
But  when  I  think  of  you  I  know  that  in  reality,  I  am 

merely  deluding  myself. 
For  that  every  breath  I  take  is  in  the  resolve  that  we 

shall  meet  again, 
And  every  impulse  of  the  heart  has  this  desire  as  its 
nucleus. 

136 


RENUNCIATION 

How  shall  I  renounce  you  for  always, 

Going  through  the  years  that  are  void  of  you? 

You,  whose  love  gave  a  new  meaning  to  the  beating 

of  my  heart. 
In  whose  eyes  I  seem  to  see  other  eyes — ^like  yours — • 

smiling. 
Eyes  that  are  to  look  upon  future  generations. 
You,  whose  voice  vibrates  to  inaudible  echoes. 
That  are  the  prophecies  of  the  coming  of  strong  men 

and  women. 
To  be  created  out  of  your  love,  founding  their  source 

in  me. 
And  to  speak  ^iQth  your  voice,  as  leaders,  to  the  people 

of  other  centuries. 
How  shall  I  renounce  you  for  always. 
Going  through  the  years  that  are  void  of  you? 

137 


SONG 

I  WONDER  if  the  spirit  of  my  lover 
Knows  how  I  languish  for  his  gentle  presence, 
Knows  how  I  miss  his  thoughtful  love  and  guidance, 
His  high  intelligence  and  sweet  protection. 

And  if  he  follows  me  with  eyes  of  pity, 
Knowing  my  trials  and  dissatisfactions, 
Knowing  the  nature  of  my  heart  and  impulse. 
Knowing  my  weakness  and  imperfect  wisdom. 

I  wonder  if  he  feels  how  my  soul  sickens 
To  loose  the  mortal  bands  that  hold  me  earth-bound. 
To  leave  this  sphere  of  struggle  and  contention. 
This  elemental  state  that's  here  called  living. 

138 


BEINGS 

Beings  of  a  higher  order  than  our  realm, 
Beings  beyond  the  grasp  of  our  few  senses, 
Floating   about   us,   ethereal,   exquisite   beings 
Building  and  planning,  apprising  us  not  of  your 

purpose, 
Aware  of  us  not,  nor  able  to  sense  our  existence. 
As  we  in  the  mortal,  can  offer  no  sign  of  our  presence. 
Beings  of  unguessed-at  regions,  wonderful,  sentient, 

awakened. 
Out  of  the  jflesh-bonds,  attuned  to  a  finer  sensation. 
Higher  in  feeling  and  action,  released  from  earth 

limits. 
Unmindful  of  earth-taint,  yet  using  aright  its  full 

message. 
Conscious  of  life  flowing  onward  and  onward  and 

onward, 

139 


140  BEINGS 

Varied  unfoldment  eternally  changing  in  aspect; 
Constant  fulfilment  of  God's  Supreme  beauty  and 
power. 

Beings  of  a  higher  order  than  our  realm, 
Beings  beyond  the  grasp  of  our  few  senses, 
Surely  the  feeling  heart  knows  the  last  day  of  earth- 
days,  the  gladdest 
Passing  out  to  you,  oh  subtle  unthinkable  beings. 


EARTH-CHILDREN 

IWe  are  the  spirit  of  this  planet, 

We  are  the  genius  of  its  soil  and  atmosphere,  and  are 
inseparable   from   them, 

We  are  the  most  perfect  embodiment  of  its  creative 
forces,  and  astral  interflow. 

We  are  the  highest  expression  evolved  from  its  mag- 
netic chemistry. 

We  are  immortal,  as  the  floating  ephemera  allured 
by  the  poetry  of  its  poise,  is  immortal — 

We  will  return  to  be  disembodied,  re-absorbed,  car- 
ried forward  forever. 

Each  minute  iota  to  form  other  combinations  in  its 
inexhaustible  laboratories. 

We  are  the  spirit  of  this  planet. 

We  are  the  Law  made  visible,  fulfilling  perfectly  the 
role  of  our  unknowable  destiny. 


A  QUESTION 

How  is  it  that  the  dead  often  speak  to  us. 

Intimating  in  dreams  the  general  trend  of  events  on 
this  earth,  and  in  the  spheres  outside  of  this 
earth. 

But  only  as  signs,  half  utterances,  like  the  yea  and 
nay  of  mortal  speech, — giving  no  explana- 
tions ? 

Are  they  yet  under  the  sway  of  that  immutable  law 
of  isolation 

That  separates  each  soul  from  the  inner  life  of  every 
other  soul, — ^while  here  upon  this  Planet — 

Each  guarding  within  itself  the  mystery  of  its  in- 
communicable loneliness  ? 
U2 


THE  SOUL'S  ANSWER 

Why  is  it  that  being  of  the  dust,  I  yet  grasp  the 
possibility  of  immortality? 

Because  that  belief  is  mine  that  offers  no  finite  con- 
ception or  limitation  to  the  Infinite — 

And  why  is  it  that  my  feet  being  bound  to  the  earth's 
crust,  I  yet  feel  equal  to  limitless  ascension? 

Because,  asking  nothing,  content  even  with  non- 
existence, I  yet  am  pregnant  with  the  fulness 
of  all  life— 

And  why  do  I  feel  God's  presence  animating  me — 
closer  than  a  friend — more  intimate  than  a 
parent  ? 

Because  being  bewildered  and  without  gladness.  He 
brought  me  to  the  haven  of  your  heart. 

Renewing  me  in  the  breath  of  your  lips  that  is  vibrant 
with  His  sweetest  emanations. 
143 


DESERTION 

I  HAVE  been  ill  and  abandoned ! 

I  have  been  empty — bewildered! 

Yet  I  know  that  both  joy  and  abundance  existed  in 

the  world, 
And  that  only  to  the  seeming,  these  were  not  for  me ; 
But,  when  despairing,  I  looked  into  the  dim  cavern 

of  the  reservoir, 
Wishing  that  its  cool  waters  might  close  over  me, 
Still  I  drew  back,  reflecting. 
For  I  remembered  that  already  great  love  had  been 

given  me, 
And  I  said :  "Because  of  this  memory,  I  will  endure !" 

144 


INSPIRATION 

Upspeinging  through  the  accumulated  dust  of  dis- 
couragements, 

Through  loneliness,  separation,  the  bitter  taste  of 
indifference. 

Through    desolation,   languor,    the    blight    of   long 
silence, 

Through  weakness,  heart-hunger,  disintegrating  dis- 
cord of  outward  circumstance. 

Through  doubt,  denial,  and  the  unspeakable  anguish 
of  soul-weariness, 

Through  all  these,  the  divine  essence  of  self-joy 

In-welling,  out-surging,  upspringing. 

145 


SONG 

I  AM  amorous  of  death,  its  sweet  cessation; 

All  day  with  eyes  closed  and  with  clasping  fingers, 

I  yield  myself  to  its  supreme  allurement — 

I  dream  of  it,  invite  it,  fold  it  to  me. 

The  rumble  of  the  traffic  of  the  city 
That  penetrates  the  calm  of  my  half-slumber. 
Seems  but  the  seabreak  on  some  distant  beaches — 
Faint  life-vibrations  from  some  far-off  planet. 

I  am  amorous  of  death,  illusions  ended, 
Freed  of  all  self-hood,  pride  of  acquisition, 
More  than  the  best  life  gives — I  want  exemption, 
Effacement  of  its  toils,  quests,  non-requitals. 

I  am  amorous  of  death,  its  sweet  cessation. 
Its  darkness  like  a  balm  upon  the  eyelids ; 
Through  the  strong  pulse  of  day  I  woo  its  silence. 
Commune  with  it,  entice  it,  fold  it  to  me. 

146 


ONWARD 

Out  into  the  wordless, 

Out  into  the  invisible, 

Away  from  earth-bonds,  memories,  disintegrating 
heart-breaks,  soul-eclipses. 

Among  the  suns,  the  nebulae,  the  careering  comets,  the 
myriad  unguessed-at  mysteries  of  the  eter- 
nal; 

Free,  floating,  rejoicing  in  one's  liberty  at  last; 

Onward — moving  ever  towards  some  greater  and 
greater  experience, 

Filled  with  the  consciousness  of  God,  and  satisfied 
in  the  perfection  of  its  joy. 
147 


ON  A  LINE  BY  ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON 

"To  renounce  when  that  shall  be  necessary  and  not 
be  embittered." 

I  HAVE  endured  great  anguish  of  spirit, 

I  have  known  desolation,  I  have  known  hunger  and 

faintness  and  helpless  weakness  of  body, 
I  have  been  homeless  at  night  with  only  the  stars  for 

companions, 
I  have  accepted  indifference  from  one  who  was  dear 

to  me, 
I  have  seen  the  death  struggle  of  one  as  close  as  the 

heart-beat, 
Wiping  the  bright  arterial  blood  from  the  sweet  lips 

the  while. 
I  myself  have  stood  face  to  face  with  death,  my  body 

racked  with  unspeakable  pain, 
I  have  been  quickened  with  new  life, 
I  have  known  the  clutcH  of  infant  hands  at  my  breas?, 

only  to  feel  them  falling  away  into  dust  also, 
148 


ON  A  LINE  BY  ROBEET  LOUIS  STEVENSON      149 

I  have  denied  myself,  cancelling  every  ambition, 

I  have  set  aside  the  labor  of  my  hands,  accepting 
failure  if  need  be — 

So  then — if  it  be  necessary  to  renounce  your  love, 

In  which  I  have  found  complete  compensation  for  all 
these, 

Yet  will  the  firmament  encompass  me  with  its  immeas- 
urable serenity — 

Yet  in  the  fragrant  silences  of  the  flower  tongues 
will  I  find  solace, 

Yet  will  the  knowledge  of  God's  goodness  remain 
audible  within  me,  like  the  faint  echoing  of 
harp  melodies. 


FROM  THE  PAST 

What  desolation  surrounding  me ! 
What  loneliness — the  dust  and  ashes  of  life  congealed 
at  my  heart,  and  bitter  upon  my  lips. 

What  bewilderment  of  spirit ! 

The  memory  of  child-pain  and  loss,  still  sharp  upon 

me, 
Love  vanished,  the  body  wasted,  its  needs  pressing, 

stern  and  absolute. 

What  heart-emptiness ! 

Yet  over  me  the  stars  vibrating,  transmitting  a  sov- 
ereign calmness. 

And  within  me  a  voice,  like  some  dream-influence, 
speaking  of  courage. 
150 


THE  NEGLECTED  LOVER 

In  the  despair  of  your  negligence  my  spirit  lan- 
guishes, 

And  my  blood  runs  chill  through  the  desert  of  the 
heart, 

For,  being  by  nature  compassionate  and  mindful  of 
the  least  of  all  God's  creatures, 

In  me  alone  must  lie  the  secret  of  my  woe — 

That  my   words   lack  the  power  to   attract  your 
thoughts  to  me. 

Or  to  quicken  into  life  the  wealth  of  love  that  lies 
brooding  in  your  soul. 
151 


THE  SEPARATION 

But  whether  we  meet  again  is,  after  all,  of  little  im- 
port to  either. 

The  real  issue  being  that,  having  met  and  mingled, 

We  are  each  truly  conscious  of  the  full  meaning  of 
that  soul-confluence. 

That  henceforth  we  go  about  our  lives  in  such  joy- 
fulness  of  purpose 

That  the  desire  of  a  like  possession  will  enter  into 
the  hearts  of  all  who  behold  us. 
152 


THE  FULFILMENT 

So  perfectly  will  I  love  you,  in  such  fulness  of  meas- 
ure 

As  is  seldom  accorded  as  part  of  the  life  of  this  earth ; 

So  that  at  last,  realizing  me,  you  will  desire  and  re- 
spond to  me. 

And  through  the  toils  of  unrest  and  despair  that  en- 
chain you, 

Your  spirit  will  flow  out  to  me,  in  the  silence,  to 
mingle  with  me. 

153 


REPUDIATION 

.When  you  looked  at  me — ^I  felt  the  creative  force 
that  forms  and  directs  the  world. 

And  when  you  held  my  hand — I  felt  the  attraction 
that  sustains  our  planetary  system ; 

When  walking  beside  you — I  felt  the  onward  marcH 
of  the  stars  through  eternity, 

And  when  you  spoke — the  rhythm  of  that  motion 
seemed  audible ; 

When  you  loved  me — I  knew  that  incomparable  joy 
that  only  they  know  who  feel  God's  presence 
an  active  principle  about  them; 

But  when,  through  misconception,  you  grew  indif- 
ferent to  me — still  I  did  not  forget, 

And  when  your  lips  formed  lacerating  words — still 
I  did  not  forget, 

154 


REPUDIATION 


155 


And  when  you  repudiated  me — still  my  spirit  re- 
mained serene, 

For  I  knew  that  even  then  I  was  yet  in  God's  king- 
dom. 


A  NEED 

Only  to  see  your  eyes  looking  at  me 
And  to  hear  your  voice  speaking  in  an  accent  of  ten- 
derness. 

Only  to  lay  my  hand  upon  your  shoulder 
And  to  feel  the  answering  touch  of  your  hand  with 
a  caress  in  it. 

To  thrill  to  the  joy  of  your  presence,  and  know  it  to 

be  a  reality 
And  not  merely  the  creation  of  an  over-fervent  spirit. 

166 


SONG— WEARINESS 

I  AM  weary  of  the  long  intervals  that  divide  us, 
The  long  stretches  of  annihilating  silence, 
I  am  weary  of  the  days  and  nights  that,  lacking  you, 
are  as  shadows  without  substance  or  structure. 

I  am  weary  of  the  protracted  longing, 

Weary  of  the  incertitude  of  waiting, 

I  am  weary  of  the  nidi  vision,  and  the  inertia  of 
heart-hunger. 

That  wasting  the  body,  makes  void  the  strong  pur- 
pose. 

157 


DESPATK 

I  WILL  give  audience  to  the  sadness  that  oppresses 

me, 
As  an  honored  guest  I  will  retain  her,  communing 

with  her  bitterness ; 
For  seductive  is  her  voice,  musing  she  stays  the  swift 

force-thought. 
And  blending  in  the  blood-flow  she  arrests  all  strong 

action ; 
I  will  yield  myself  to  her,  attuning  my  thoughts  to 

her  measure. 
Voicing    the    soul-weariness    that    preys    upon    my 

vigor ; 
I  will  surfeit  upon  her,  I  will  pour  out  my  life- 
anguish  before  her, 
I  will  strive  till  she  subdue  me,  or  I  conquer  her 

dominion. 

158 


THE  INNER  LIFE 

I  HAVE  been  chastened  by  anguish, 

And  baptized  in  humiliation; 

I  have  been  desolate  as  one  lost  upon  the  Steppes  &t. 
sun-down, 

And  lonely  beyond  all  power  of  expression ; 

I  have  lain  prostrate  before  bodily  weakness, 

And  overcome  by  the  greater  sorrow  of  heart  empti- 
ness; 

My  lips  have  fed  upon  dust  and  ashes,  my  soul  adrift 
upon  a  sea  of  bitterness ; 

Yet,  not  for  a  moment  have  I  lost  the  sense  of  the 
beauty  of  the  world, 

Nor  the  knowledge  of  the  reality  and  the  sweetness 
of  love. 

150 


COMPENSATIONS 

Nevee  again  to  weep  tears  of  anguish,  feeling  the 
heart's  love  unrequited, 

Nor  the  tender  shoots  of  the  life  of  the  spirit  chilled 
in  the  snows  of  indifference. 

Never  again  to  know  languor,  heart-hunger,  the  bit- 
ter taste  of  denial. 

One's  strength  waning,  one's  best  efforts  fruitless. 

Never  again  to  know  weakness,  unfaith,  separation, 
despair. 

To  doubt  one's  own  heart  and  life's  purpose,  man's 
divinity  or  the  reality  of  God; 

For  when  one  has  seen  that  look  in  loved  eyes,  that 
bespeaks  love, 

And  heard  from  warm  lips  those  words  that  are 
responsive  to  the  heart, 

In  that  moment  is  found  full  restitution  for  all  these, 

So  that  even  the  memory  of  pain  has  become  oblit- 
erate. 

160 


INTROSPECTION 

Aftee  I  have  looked  into  your  eyes. 

That  are  colored  like  the  mists  after  sundown, 

There  comes  a  sadness  upon  me. 

That  is  a  lonely  anguish  like  the  solitude  of  the  death 

hour — 
And  this  is  not  temporary 

But  abides  with  me  for  days,  and  yet  for  days, 
All  minor  thoughts  and  emotions  becoming  obliterate 
In  that  great  surge  of  regretful  memory. 

161 


A  CRY 

My  voice  is  as  the  crying  of  the  wind  to  his  ears, 
My  joy,  the  whirling  of  the  leaf  therein — 
My  beauty,  as  a  pebble  to  be  cast  into  the  waters. 
And  my  heart,  as  the  dust  that  lies  upon  his  pathway. 

162 


COMPLAINT  AND  ANSWER 

The  body  speaks  to  itself,  complaining — 
Though  loved  by  a  great  man  yet  you  go  unclad  in 

silken  vesture ! 
And  your  feet,  though  kissed  by  a  strong  man,  yet 

they  are  chilled  by  the  damps  of  the  muddy 

highway. 

And  the  soul  responds — 

The  body  that  holds  itself  as  my  sanctuary  takes 

no  thought  of  the  texture  of  its  raiment, 
And  the  feet  that  are  familiar  with  the  paths  that  lead 

to  Love's  treasure-house 
Are  indifferent  to  the  earth-damps,  or  the  form  of  the 

shoes  that  confine  them. 
168 


HEART-BREAK 

My  heart  seems  to  stand  still, 

My  throat  is  contracted  almost  to  suffocation, 

My  lips  are  dry  and  ineffectual  as  one  mumbling  in 
a  delirium; 

My  eyes  burn  at  the  centre  and  are  heavy-lidded,  and 
no  tears  rise  to  assuage  their  fever; 

My  spirit  languishes  and  is  weary  beyond  all  expres- 
sion. 

For  that  which  was  as. native  as  the  flow  of  the  blood 
in  the  arteries, 

That  which  was  as  the  rock  upon  which  my  joy  was 
founded. 

That  one  touch  of  sweetness — your  love — that  recon- 
ciled me  to  the  many  trials  of  life — ^has  been 
withdrawn  from  me — 

And  I  am  as  distrait  and  bewildered  as  one  who,  in 
extremity,  is  lost  upon  the  sands  of  the  desert ; 
164 


HEAET-BREAK  165 

As  utterly  3reary  seems  the  prospect  before  me ; 
As  utterly  without  guidance  am  I; 
As  utterly  without  courage; 
As  utterly  despairing. 


TRANQUILLITY 

I  WILL  sit  in  the  vast  silence  and  not  be  bewildered, 
For  within  me  is  that  knowledge  of  power  that  is 
beyond  time  or  event. 

Though  the  body  be  weak  and  unclasped  by  the  arm 

of  protection, 
Yet  within  me  is  that  source  of  strength  that  is 

greater  than  anything  with  which  this  earth 

is  supplied. 

And  though  I  may  not  hear  your  voice  speaking,  yet 
I  am  not  solitary, 

For  within  me  is  that  Life  that  is  calmer  than  earth- 
life,  and  that  dispels  all  earth-longing. 
166 


SILENCE 

Theough  peril  and  disaster  I  have  been  silent, 
And  I  have  been  silent  through  great  anguish  of 

spirit,  and  through  physical  privation; 
I   have   been    silent   when    failure    and   indifference 

threatened  to  overwhelm  me, — 
And  when  death  grappled  with  me  ready  to  annihilate 

me,  yet  I  have  been  silent. 
So  then — if  now  you  withdraw  the  comfort  of  your 

love  from  me, 
Effacing,  in  the  arrogance  of  your  heart,  even  the 

memory  of  its  sweetness, 
I  can  return  to  the  unfailing  solace  of  silence. 
To  the  renewing  strength  of  silence. 
To  the  supreme  effectuality  of  silence. 

1«7 


LAMENT  OF  A  MODERN  SARA 

What  shall  I  do  with  the  burden  of  my  days  that  I 

may  endure  them? 
For  my  breath  is  as  gall  to  my  nostrils  and  my  words 

fade  into  emptiness  before  me, 
My  comings  and  my  goings  are  as  phantoms,  the 

work  of  my  hands  destitute  of  profit. 
Because  the  love  that  redeems  is  withheld  from  me,  my 

womb  is  barren  and  my  heart  disconsolate, 
Its  strength  turned  fallow,  its  hope  hallucination. 
For  the  men  of  this  day  are  as  pigmies  in  honor, 

revering  no  longer  those  attributes  that  are 

native  and  intrinsic ; 
Self-stunned  in  herb-fumes  they  wander,  self-dwarfed 

in  the  carnality  of  their  musings ; 
Prizing  the  things  that  are  temporal  above  those  that 

are  spiritual  and  progressive, 
168 


LAMENT  OF  A  MODERN  SAHA  169 

They  barter  their  inheritance  of  self- joy  for  that 

which  is  indifferent  and  perishable; 
What  shall  I  do  with  the  burden  of  my  days  that  I 

may  endure  them? 
For  the  words  of  the  world  are  as  shadows,  deficient 

in  wisdom, 
And  the  wealth  of  the  world — for  their  baseness — 

makes  no  reparation, 
And  the  love  of  the  world  is  unstable  and  empty  of 

solace. 


LOVE'S  MASQUERADE 

Since  your  heart  is  cold  and  indifferent  so  that  your 

eyes  behold  in  me  no  fullness, 
I  will  acquire  the  arts  of  the  Siren,  wherewith  to 

lure  you, 
I  will  disperse  in  wiles  the  glory  of  my  womanhood. 
And  in  dreams  I  will  cover  the  jewel  of  my  heart, 
I  will  sing  in  the  solitude,  I  will  weave  my  enchant- 
ments over  you. 
And  drawing  you  to  me,  I  will  disarm  the  indifference 
that  robs  worship  of  its  dower. 
170 


MEDITATION 

I  TALK  with  men  and  women  in  passing,  discussing 

tlieir  environment,  pursuits,  possibilities. 
And  I  see  them  agitating  over  the  temporal,  and  that 

their  mortality  seems  to  them  important, 
And  that  they  cleave  to  it  as  a  finality;  because  it 

seems  real  to  them,  and  vice  seems  real,  and 

failure,  and  sex  degradation  also,  seems  real 

to  them; 
And  they  dispute  over  these  things,  accepting  them 

as  entities,  adjusting  themselves  to  them  as 

principals. 
And  money  seems  real,  and  it  attracts  them,  as,  in 

itself,  a  desideratum, 
And  some  are  perplexed  in  their  thoughts,  all  day, 

to  obtain  it,  and  at  night  they  lie  sleepless 

upon  their  pillows; 
171 


172  MEDITATION 

And  others  have  recourse  to  crime,  allying  themselves 

with  iniquity,  in  order  to  obtain  it ; 
And  I  am  depressed  after  these  talks,  and  sit  a  long 

time  solitary,  wearied  by  the  turmoil  of  the 

dream  that  is  carnal, 
For  I  am  offended  by  their  projects,  as  phantoms 

that  baffle  the  growth  of  the  spirit. 
And  to  me,  the  growth  of  the  spirit  is  as  essential  as 

the  needs  of  the  body,  and  should  have  equal 

scope  in  its  manifestation ; 
And  I  look  upward  to  the  Sun,  inhaling  deeply  its 
full  splendor,  realizing  myself  as  part  of  that 
bounty, 
Praying  silently  that  no  distraction  of  the  flesh  may 

sever  me  in  my  affinity  for  the  things  that  are 

God-like ; 
And  I  am  as  one  intoxicated  of  the  light  and  from 

it  I  absorb  only  that  which  is  strong  and 

salutary. 
And  henceforth,  I  will  impart  to  others  only  that 

which  is  strong  and  salutary. 
Allowing  as  actual  in  them,  only  that  which  is  the 

same, 


REPLETION 

Think  not  I  love  you  less,  that  I  am  less  assiduous ; 
'Tis  not  I  love  you  less,  but  rather  love  life  less. 
For  the  spirit  in  man,  in  holding  life's  high  pleasures, 
Flags — and    grows    less    impetuous,    less    fervid    in 

requirement ; 
And,  as  the  rapt  face  of  a  flower  absorbs  the  sun- 
shine. 
So  am  I  thralled  in  the  strong  thought  of  Death. 

ITS 


RECOGNITION 

Out  from  the  dim  corridors  of  time,  we  for  a  moment 

met  and  loitered, 
And  the  fire  in  your  eyes,  mingling  with  the  fire  in 

mine  suddenly  we  comprehended, 
And  our  souls  clinging  together  rejoiced  exceedingly, 

no  more  to  be  indifferent; 
For  in  that  look  was  the  knowledge  that  through  all 

transitions  and  experiences, 
The  chief  good  is,  not  to  lose  sight  of  the  personal 

joy. 

174 


A  VISITATION 

The  Angel  spoke  to  me  saying, 
"Why  are  you  so  downcast,  oh  my  sister?" 
Soothed  somewhat  by  her  gracious  presence  I  re- 
sponded : 
**Because  he  whom  my  soul  loves,  loves  not  me." 
And  the  Angel  smiled  a  radiant  joy-smile — 
"There  are  those  who  need  love,  to  whom  love's  gifts 

are  precious ;  seek  them." 
*'But  without  this  love  my  day  is  as  ashes,  and  in  my 

heart  is  no  strength  left  for  seeking." 
And  again  the  Angel  smiled  a  wondrous  joy-smile. 
*'Is  that  which  is  given  ungladly,  or  by  solicitation 

to  be  counted  a  boon? 
Or  is  it  expedient  to  sit  sorrowing  for  some  drea 

desire,  some  web  of  the  fancy,  in  a  world  full 
of  perfect  things  ?" 
17S 


176  A  VISITATION 

''Assuredly  not,  oh  Spirit." 

"Yet  you  are  disconsolate  because  that  whicH  you 

wish  to  be,  has  no  being." 
Silently  I  assented. 
**Only  they  are  shadows,  who  seeing  shadows,  wander 

in  shadows." 
"I  see,"  I  cried  at  last.     "Sweet  Sister,  I  will  wipe 

out  this  dream-desire,  this  wish  for  that  which 

is  not.    I  will  .  .  .  but — " 
The  Angel  had  vanished,  and  in  my  heart  was  a  peace 

like  the  radiance  of  that  joy-memory. 


STRENGTH— IN  A  NAME 

When  the  cares  of  life  become  too  heavy  for  me, 
And  I  lose  faith,  fearing  to  faint  by  the  wayside, 
Then  a  name  rises  to  my  lips  like  a  deep  sigh, 
And  what  the  charm  in  the  soimd  is,  I  know  not,  but 
immediately  the  burden  of  pain  and  discour- 
agement leaves  me, 
And  the  sweetness  of  memory  enthralls  me — 
The  kind  looks  I  see  again — 

And  the  voice  that  entrances,  I  hear  again  speaking. 
And  a  gladness  returns  like  that  of  the  homing  bird, 

after  the  storm. 
For  I  know  that  we  shall  meet  again. 
And  that  love  perfect  and  secure  shall  achieve  its 
supreme  consummation. 
ITT 


LOVE'S  SUiPREMACY 

A  LONG  time,  bitter  days  had  been  my  portion, 
Days  of  heart-emptiness  and  desolation, 
Days  in  whose  loneliness  even  God  seemed  absent, 
When  my  soul  longed  to  hear  some  love-word  spoken, 
And  my  flesh  weakened  for  some  friendly  contact — 
Days  when  my  feet  knew  pain  and  my  lips  hunger. 
And  my  ears  listened  vainly  for  a  footstep ; 
Yet  Love's  Supremacy  was  working  through  me 
Most  closely,  those  faint  days  of  isolation. 
Since,  from  their  bitterness,  was  born  the  power 
To  draw  your  heart's  love  to  me  through  the  distance. 
And  now,  no  lor  ger  sadness  is  my  portion, 
But  deep  full  joyous  life,  replete  with  courage. 
And  always  some  sweet  hint  of  a  kind  presence, 
A  pressure  on  my  palm,  like  your  hand  guiding, 
A  sense  that  if  I  leaned  a  little  forward. 
Your  breath  might  warm  my  forehead  or  my  bosom. 

178 


JOY 

An  angel  came  to  me  in  the  darkness  and  spoke 

gently,  saying, 
"  Because  of  the  abyss  of  long  silence  that  divides 

you,  be  not  afflicted — 
For  he  whom  your  soul  loves,  loves  also,  with  the  love 

of  the  great  heart — the  strong  1  »ve — 
And  those  things  that  are  nothing  will  in  due  time 

resolve  themselves  back  again  into  the  noth- 
ingness." 
And  floating  away,  she  lingered  in  the  distance,  her 

face  as  a  radiance,  singing — 
"Yours  be  the  faith,  yours  be  the  love,  that  triumphs 

through  life,  and  over  death.     Oh  joy,  joy, 

joy.     .     .     .'• 

179 


WOUNDED 

The  orange  sunset  of  winter ! 
And  the  bare  branches  of  the  trees  like  delicate  lace- 
work  against  it, 
The  snow  crisp  underfoot,  the  air  clear,  penetrating, 
crystalline. 
Walking  together  side  by  side,  he  with  effort. 
His  arm  linked  through  my  arm  for  support — 
His  face  wan  with  anguish,  yet  luminous,  lovely, 
courageous. 
Along  the  village  street — 
The  people  regarding  us  furtively. 
Some  making  personal  comments  in  an  undertone  as 
we  pass. 
Slowly  we  walk! 
His  radiant  eyes  seeing  not  at  all  the  village  street, 
nor  the  villagers, 

180 


WOUNDED 


181 


Yet  not  unconscious  of  the  beauty  of  the  world, 

Nor  the  salutary  influence  of  the  presence  of  strong 
human  beings, 

Gazing  intently  into  the  beyond,  without  fear  or 
resentment. 

Only  a  sweet  resignation,  acceptance,  obedience,  re- 
nouncing all,  without  a  murmur  or  question, 
love,  art,  ambition. 

Nor  mindful  of  leaving  me  comfortless,  empty,  be- 
wildered— 

Knowing  that  all  will  be  well  with  me  too,  on  the 
morrow. 

Silent  we  walk,  yet  not  lonely. 

Each  comprehending  and  responding  to  the  quiet 
musing  of  the  other. 

In  that  communion  that  is  deeper  and  beyond  the 
power  of  words, 

Those  rare  electric  moments,  when  spirit  merges  into 
spirit. 


DISSOLUTION 

He  lay  before  me  in  the  death-struggle, 

His  lips  moving  silently,  unable  to  form  the  last 

words  he  would  utter ; 
Yet  clearly  I  knew  their  meaning,  through  the  glaze 

that  obscured  his  sweet  blue  eyes. 
And  my  soul  was  mute  and  bewildered  by  the  bright 

red  blood  that  welled  up  to  his  lips  from  the 

arteries. 

As  a  mother  yearns  over  the  blighted  life  of  her 

infant,  so  was  I  stricken  and  helpless. 
Lost  in  an  anguish  that  dazed  me,  before  the  cruelty 

of  that  dissolution, 
And  I  could  whisper  no  parting,  nor  kiss  him,  or  tell 

him  how  I  loved  him,  though  but  a  few  minutes 

remained  to  me, 
Nor  could  I  ask  him  whether  he  felt  God's  Presence 

closely  enfolding  him. 
182 


LIFE  AND  DEATH 

A  WEAKNESS  in  the  flesh, 

A  languor  o'er  the  spirit, 

A  blight  upon  the  heart  beat, 

A  blemish  in  the  breath, 

Seeking  the  joy  that  is  not  in  the  mortal, 

Craving  the  love  that  is  not  of  the  dust. 

Oh  the  dull,  bitter  task  of  disillusion, 

Oh  the  long-silent  anguish  of  endurance. 

Oh  the  fatigue,  like  chaif ,  before  the  footsteps ! 

A  grayness  in  the  thoughts, 
A  faintness  in  the  speech. 
An  ennui  in  the  memory, 
A  shadow  o'er  the  vision. 
Then  the  swift  longing  for  the  final  out-leap 
Into  the  wordless  void,  the  blissful  ether. 
Oh  the  ecstatic  joy  of  overcoming. 
Oh  the  glad  miracle  of  boundless  being. 
Oh  the  sweet  up-lift  through  the  wondrous  regions! 

1^3 


NOON-DAY  AND  NIGHT 

The  broad  full  noon, 

Its  radiance  of  light ;  its  warmth ;  its  power ; 

Its  clear  calm  view;  its  speech,  its  sanity; 

Its  wealth  of  purpose,  effort,  energy ; 

Its  pride  of  native  hope,  that  sanctifies 

The  burden  of  its  toils ;  its  love-delights 

That  quells  its  fears,  plans  its  abode  and  builds 

Its  altars  till  they  tdwer  to  Cheop's  crown. 

The  cold,  black  night. 

Its  tears;  its  languishment,  its  stifled  sighs,' 
Its  brooding  memories,  its  swift  desires. 
Its  phantom  fruits  of  long  sped  happy  hours, 
Its  strange  debris  of  things  that  never  were. 
Its  anguish  of  the  things  that  seemed  to  be. 
Its  anguish  of  the  day  just  spent,  and  then 
Its  keener  anguish  of  the  days  to  come. 

184 


TO  A  DISEMBODIED  SOUL 

Dearest, 

Are  you  watching  me  with  your  spirit  eyes, 

Seeing  the  pangs  and  perplexities  that  at  each  step 

of  the  earth-life  assail  me; 
Yet  having  no  part  in  my  suffering, 
Because  the  reason  of  things,  that  is  hidden  from 

mortal  senses, 
The  need  of  the  struggle,  and  its  underlying  purpose, 
Is  revealed  to  you  and  perfectly  comprehended? 

Dearest — 

Are  you  standing  ever  near  me. 

Longing  with  infinite  longing  to  stretch  out  your 

hand 
And  touch  me  into  consciousness  of  your  presence ; 
Yet  because  of  that  immutable  law, 

185 


186  TO  A  DISEMBODIED  SOUL 

By  whicK  no   spirit   can  enter  into   contact  with 

mortal. 
Withhold,  and  in  patience  endure? 

Dearest — 

Although  in  the  darkness  of  the  flesh-veiled  vision, 

Distracted  by  the  travail  of  spirit  that  is  the  daily 

life  of  the  world. 
Yet  will  my  faith  remain  steadfast. 
That,  with  the  first  anguish  of  dissolution. 
In  the  dawning  light  of  the  succeeding  phase  of 

existence. 
Shall  your  face  be  made  apparent,  looking  at  me 

with  welcome. 
And  hand  in  hand,  through  asons  of  time  shall  we 

move  onward  together. 
Among  the  myriad  suns  and  mysteries  of  the  universe, 
And  through  the   revolving  cycles  of  change  and 

revelation. 
Prepare  our  hearts  to  receive  the  ultimate  wisdom 
and  perfection  of  God. 


SELF-RELIANCE 

As  a  stag  at  bay,  I  look  out  upon  the  world,  soli- 
tary— flanked  everywhere  by  discourage- 
ments, all  love  withheld  from  me, 

Yet  keeping  the  serenity  of  my  soul,  I  stand  un- 
quellcd  before  it, 

For  I  know  the  strife  to  be  unworthy  the  life  in  me, 
inasmuch  as  it  is  the  outcome  of  man's  crud- 
ity, and  not  of  his  exalted,  more  spiritual 
nature, 

And  a  strong  joy  possesses  me,  the  joy  in  the  over- 
coming of  the  things  that  are  temporal. 

And  the  courage  that  is  given  when  face  to  face  with 
the  sharp  moments  of  life,  is  upon  me, 

And  I  know  that  the  law  that  makes  for  salvation  is 
working  steadily  through  me. 

That  I  shall  subdue  all  negation  and  conquer  all 
indifference, 

187 


188  SELF-RELIANCE 

That  I  shall  stem  the  tide  of  adverse  circumstance, 
making  it  subservient  to  my  will, 

And,  as  Aphrodite  new  born  of  the  sea-foam,  I  will 
rise  cleansed  from  the  turmoil  of  its  billows. 


A  CRY 

Stand  back  and  away  from  me,  crow3  not  upon  me 
with  your  shallow  judgments  and  doubtful 
purposes, 

For  I  am  stifled  in  the  carnality  of  your  thoughts, 
and  by  the  iniquity  of  your  actions ! 

I  am  a  creature  new-born — a  woman  meek  but  intol- 
erant— 

And  henceforth,  I  accept  from  you  only  that  which 
is  strong  and  salubrious, 

For  one  whom  I  loved,  has  put  indignity  upon  me, 
bringing  me  to  the  level  of  his  own  unright- 
eousness. 

But  now,  I  am  rebellious,  I  will  deny  him,  and  they 
that  are  like  him,  shall  be  as  chaff  before  my 
footsteps, 

189 


190  A  CKY 

For  who  is  He,  Ihat  with  impunity  can  bring  to 
emptiness  the  dower  of  my  womanhood? 

Stand  back  and  away  from  me,  crowd  not  upon  me 
with  your  shallow  judgments  and  doubtful 
purposes, 

For  I  am  stifled  by  the  carnality  of  your  thoughts 
and  by  the  iniquity  of  your  actions ; 

And  until  one  confronts  me  who  is  equal  with  me  in 
faith  and  endurance,  I  will  live  solitary  in 
the  midst  of  you. 

For  knowing  the  godliness  of  my  nature  and  func- 
tion I  will  withdraw  myself  from  a  generation 
that  is  loveless. 


REVERIE 

I  GO  about  seeking  love,  according  to  my  knowledge 
and  expectation,  and  in  a  degree  I  know  occa- 
sionally to  exist, 

For  I  am  one  who  urgently  needs  love's  fullness,  the 
faithful-love  of  the  king-husband  of  Deidre  of 
old. 

Or  of  the  time-tried  lover  of  Aspasia — the  strong, 
enfolding,  life-enduring  love — 

And  both  by  the  sj^mmetry  of  my  body  and  the 
frankness  of  my  speech,  do  I  attract  the  ad- 
miration of  men. 

And  I  listen  to  their  flatteries,  and  to  the  recital  of 
their  ambitions,  and  in  turn  I  sometimes  flat- 
ter them. 

For   I   know  how  by   these   crude   beginnings,   the 
abiding  structure  is  often  founded — ^when  in- 
sight penetrates  insight — 
191 


192  REVERIE 

And  for  a  time  all  goes  well,  until  some  crisis-moment 
arises,  when  they  almost  always  fail  of  that 
which  is  the  due  of  perfect  manhood. 

For  I  forget  that  these  are  not  the  spontaneous 
child-men  of  primitive  ages,  when  chivalry  was 
as  the  marrow  to  the  bone. 

But  the  collected,  cynical,  worldly-wise  men  of  this 
century;  fond  of  money,  absorbed  in  com- 
merce, full  of  self -hood ; 

But  when  the  trial-moment  has  passed,  appearing 
before  me,  again  do  they  affirm  their  love  for 
me; 

And  if,  by  chance,  they  leave  the  city  for  a  time, 
they  write,  reiterating  my  praises. 

Yet  often  I  am  lonely,  and  my  lips  lack  nourishment, 
and  my  body  is  languid  as  with  the  death- 
weariness. 

So  that,  that  which  they  offer  me — in  Love's  name — 
seems  a  mockery,  a  thing  without  substance,  a 
shadow's  shadow; 

And  often,  hardly  scanning  these  missives,  I  lay  them 
upon  the  bright  embers. 

And  watch  them  without  sadness,  as  they  dwindle 
into  the  nothingness  from  whence  they  came, — t 


BEVEEIE  193 

For  I  know  that  there  are  yet,  upon  the  earth,  some 

of  like  calibre  to  the  heroic  men  of  long  ago, 
And  that  he  who  is  truly  to  love  me,  is  one  of  these, 

and  that  already  he  is  seeking  after  me  in  his 

heart, 
And  from  afar  he  will  acknowledge  me,  and  however 

swiftly  I  may  go,  will  inevitably  overtake  me. 


A  PRIVILEGE 

It  is  a  great  privilege  to  have  loved  some  one, 

So  much,  that  your  heart  beats  with  the  purpose  only 

of  giving  joy  to  the  heart  of  that  person, 
So  much,  that  no  aim  or  pursuit  is  considered  only  as 

it  reflects  upon  his  being. 
As  you  go  imparting  brightness  to  all  with  whom 

you  come  in  daily  contact, 
Because  the  gladness  of  your  heart  inspires  you 

with  the  desire  to  be  helpful  to  them — 
So  much,  that  the  blood  in  your  veins  is  to  the  loved 

one  to  be  transfused  into  him  if  need  be, 
So  much,  that  you  would  renounce  life  and  do  so 

gladly,  should  any  good  accrue  to  him  by  the 

act. 
So  much,  that  the  life  of  your  own  soul  and  body  is  as 

nothing  by  comparison, 
194 


A  PRIVILEGE  195 

This  is  the  love  that  makes  life  a  victory. 

This  is  the  love  that  makes  immortality  a  reality. 

This  is  the  love  that  only  is  love, 

This  is  the  love  after  which  life  only  is  life, 

And  they  who  have  failed  of  it,  have  not  properly 
lived, 

Nor  can  they  properly  die. 


THE  HEART'S  EPITHALAMIUM 

This  day,  I  will  kiss  the  lips  of  my  beloved, 

And  I  will  take  him  with  me  into  the  high  places 

where  only  the  elect  can  enter, 
I  will  surround  him  with  my  substance,  withdrawing 

him  from  the  snare  of  the  idle,  and  from  the 

toils  of  the  iniquitous ; 
And  together  we  will  live  serenely,  surmounting  every 

obstacle,  and  conquering  every  tyranny. 
And  we  shall  know  the  glory  that  is  the  reward  of 

the  patient,  and  the  strength  that  is  to  the 

parents  of  valiant  children, 
And  we  will  rejoice  each  in  the  security  of  the  heart 

of  the  other,  walking  as  gods  upon  the  earth, 

simply  and  uprightly. 
196 


SONG  OF  SOLITUDE 

You  and  I  together! 
In  a  solitary  place — 
In  the  midst  of  primeval  nature  and  within  sound  of 

the  somnolent  sea ; 
Heart  to  heart — 
Once  again  primitive  man  and  woman  fearless  and 

without  shame; 
Yet  knowing  well  the  tragic  history  of  the  race,  and 

the  sorrows  of  the  human  heart, 
Whose  chief  sin  is  its  want  of  faith  in  itself. 
Its  disloyalty  to  itself. 

You  and  I  together! 
In  the  midst  of  primeval  nature, 
Divesting  ourselves  of  the  barbarity  of  the  life  of  the 
so-called  civilized  man — 
197 


198  SONG  OF  SOLITXJDE 

Its  accumulated  falsities  and  ignorance, 
And  in  the  midst  of  its  abundance  of  light — 
The  immensity  of  its  darkness. 

You  and  I  together !  and  solitary ; 

But  only  for  a  time ! 

For  having  found  peace,  through  our  divine  love  of 

each  other, 
We  love  the  world,  and  wish  to  bestow  that  peace 

upon  it. 

In  the  midst  of  primeval  nature ! 

Yet  our  works  going  out  among  the  struggling 
masses, 

They  speaking  for  us  more  vividly  than  our  tongues 
could  speak; 

Dwelling  upon  and  helping  onward  the  grand  move- 
ments of  life. 

Showing  how  to  possess  the  things  that  are  real, 

And  to  discard  all  those  things  whether  taught  in 
the  schools  or  in  the  churches, 

That  do  not  make  for  its  lasting  betterment, 

The  true  worship  of  God — 


SONG  OF  SOLITUDE  199 

Which  is  the  right  understanding  of  humanity. 
Giving  as  its  highest  motive  the  cultivation  and  per- 
fection of  itself — 
Bringing  into  the  daily  life  of  the  people, 
Health — ^which  results  only  from  a  proper  use  and 

respect  of  nature's  laws — 
For  only  after  these  have  been  grasped  and  insisted 

upon, 
Will  come  the  need  of  the  beautiful,  and  the  delight 

in  perfection ; 
When  the  love  of  Phidias  and  of  Raphael,  is  fused 

(like  health)  into  the  common  life. 
When  we  are  able  to  follow  the  teachings  of  Christ, 

Buddha,  and  such  as  they. 
Then  there  will  be  but  one  nation  upon  the  earth,  one 

religion,  one  brother-hood. 

You  and  I  together ! 

Withdrawing  ourselves — through  love — for  a  time; 
For  only  through  love — can  we  save — 
And  only  they  can  bestow  peace,  who  have  found 
peace. 


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